X Men: The Lonely Hearts Club
by The Scratch Man
Summary: A HUGE comic/Evolution crossover. Love, surprises, and danger lurk around every corner. JeanPaul/Bobby. Minor Pyro/Gambit, Quicksilver/Avalanche. Mentions/past Rogue/Gambit, Shadowcat/Avalanch, Bobby/Lorna Dane. ABANDONED.
1. Mistletoe

**Disclaimer : I don't own the X-men!**

**A/N: Okay, so I kind of *know* that this story might be *waaay* out of my area of expertise because I do not consistently read the comics, but I've read *a lot* of X-men fanfics (Don't believe me? Check out my fave stories on my profile) so I *think* I might be able to handle this. The characterizations might be off (sorry to those of you whole REALLY know the X-men) and I might say something that goes against what has happened in the comics, but just bear with me people! And R&R!**

Emma Frost walked down the halls of Xavier's Institute with an air of superiority. She was the co-leader and the students had nicknamed her things such as the Ice Queen for her coldness. The only other person in the building who could rival her composure, her coolness, was Jean-Paul Beaubier; aka Northstar.

Today, as Emma Frost strutted down the middle of the hall, the heels of her white, high-heeled boots making sharp clicks against the floor, she had a major head ache.

Although the winter holidays were supposed to be a festive time, it was also a right pain in the ass for teachers. The kids ran around on sugar highs and trailed mushy cold snow all around the institute, screaming and laughing.

Just that morning–Emma had to yell at a group of rowdy teens who had decided it would be funny to start a snow ball fight in the cafeteria and another for flicking bits of ice at each other in the library.

As Emma turned onto the next corridor, two teenagers pulled apart from one another. They smiled sheepishly and pointed at the mistletoe above their heads.

Emma bit back a groan. *Who* had hung mistletoe everywhere?

Down the hall, Bobby Drake and Jubilation Lee ran down the hall, looking for places to hang up the sprigs of mistletoe that had gotten.

"There!" Jubilee giggled, pointing at the archways near the staircase.

Jubilee climbed onto Bobby's shoulder and pinned a sprig to the wood.

"Hey!" Jubilee cried, stopping two passing teenagers, "You two! You have to kiss?"

"No fucking way!" Julian Keller sneered.

"You passed under the mistletoe!" Jubilee insisted.

"Julian does not wish to kiss me and personally, I believe the feeling the mutual." X-23, a new student said quietly.

"Oh please! I don't care! You have to, though! It's not my fault you two decided to pass under it together." Jubilee said, grinning triumphantly.

Julian rolled his eyes, "I'm giving her a fucking tour."

"Such profanity!" Bobby gasped mockingly and reached out to stop Julian and Laura from walking away. "But like the firecracker said: you have to kiss."

"Jubilation! Robert!"

Jubilee and Bobby exchanged glances as they recognized the voice.

"You're off the hook for now, Keller!" Bobby called over his shoulder as he and Jubilee sprinted up the staircase and disappeared around the corner.

Emma Frost appeared at the archway at the moment and said, "Ah, Julian. Have you seen Mr. Drake?"

"Yeah… he went up there…" Julian shrugged, waving at the staircase he started walking and shouted, "Come on, X!"

Emma shot Laura a nasty look as she hurried after Hellion.

"Hey, Bobby!" Dani Moonstar called as she saw Jubilee and the Iceman pass, "Shouldn't you and Jubilee be helping with the decorations for the dance?"

"Yeah, but we're spreading the love!" Bobby grinned, waving a clump of mistletoe as they left.

Dani shook her head, mostly to herself. Spreading the love? Bobby and Jubilee were both single!

"_Non_. I refuse."

"C'mon, Johnny! There aren't enough chaperones." Logan growled.

Jean-Paul walked at a fast pace and Logan was jogging slightly to keep up. He shot Logan a look and sniffed saying, "Why don't you chaperone, then?"

"'cause I need the time off." Logan said

"_Oui_. However, so do I." Jean-Paul replied shortly. He walked purposefully up the staircase, "I will help with the decorations, but I stand firm on my choice not to chaperone."

"It could help you get to know the kids." Logan tried.

Jean-Paul snorted, "I do not wish to interact with hormonal teenagers who are high on sugar and alcohol they have somehow gotten their hands on."

Logan sighed dramatically, deciding to play his last card, "What if the Iceman asked you?"

"Excuse me?" Jean-Paul said, stopping abruptly.

"You've been throwing pheromones at him for weeks, Johnny, it ain't that hard to figure what's going through your mind. So I *said*, what if Bobby Drake asked you to help chaperone the winter dance?"

"I would still refuse." Jean-Paul said flatly after a moment. He turned on his heel and walked away.

"I'll tell Frost you'll do it, then, 'kay?" Logan called after him.

"Why do *I* have to be on snack-duty?" Bobby whined.

"Because I said so." Scott Summers, one of the original five X-men (along with Bobby) replied.

"But snack-duty *sucks*! I have to watch the punch bowl the whole time to make sure no one spikes it with booze!" Bobby moaned. It was a horribly boring job, and usually somehow the students still managed to mix the drink in at all the dances anyway. The year before, half the students had been with hangovers the morning after the dance. Although no one had ever been caught, Bobby always had a nagging suspicion it was Santo, one of Julian Keller's friends and teammate on the New X-Men squads.

"Hm… that sucks." Was all Scott had to say before he moved away to catch up to Hank McCoy.

"Fuck." Bobby muttered.

"Is something wrong, Robert?"

It was Jean-Paul; Bobby recognized the French accent that belonged to the arrogant Quebecois.

He turned and said, "oh, hey, JP."

"Jean-Paul, if you will."

"Fine."

The stood there, three feet apart and Bobby looking down at the floor.

"So… what's up?" Bobby said after a while, looking.

"I am waiting for your answer." Jean –Paul replied.

"Answer…?"

"To my question, Robert. I asked what was wrong. Usually one is supposed to reply, _non_?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Um…you know I'm just bummed; I got snack duty for the dance."

Jean-Paul didn't say anything and Bobby then said, to avoid a longer awkward silence, "Are you going to chaperone, too?"

"Non, I do not *believe* so. However, Wolverine has implied that it is not my choice." Jean Paul finished, looking pained at the thought.

Bobby grinned and slapped Jean Paul on the back, saying cheerfully, "Oh well! At least I'll have someone to share my misery with!"

Bobby glanced up and his grin faltered. He gave Jean Paul a fleeting look and then took off down the hall.

Jean Paul sighed to himself and then turned around. He glanced skyward for a moment to see what Bobby had been looking at.

A few inches overhead from where they had stood was a sprig of mistletoe.

**A/N: Okay people, that's just chapter one. I PROMISE you chapter two! And for those of you don't know, I always keep my promises. I'm going to take a moment here to advertise and remind you people to check out my other stories, including the two I have started on under the same pen name. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**-The Scratch Man**


	2. Snack Duty

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-men (*sigh* that means Jubes, Bobby, JP, and Logan, too…)**

**A/N: I hope you all liked the last chapter. I think that mixing the New X men characters into the story was a little weird. Can somebody tell me whether or not Annie was still with the X men at this point? I recall her leaving... Anyhoo, R&R, sweeties!**

**-the Scratch Man**

Bobby sat slumped on the sofa, surfing through the channels on the television.

_Click_, went the remote.

"Bella, I promise-"

_Click._

"This is Nancy Hall with Channel 3 News. Tonight, live from-"

_Click._

"The X-men have been out of-"

_Click._

"And Grant makes his way down the court –he passes to-"

_Click._

"Hey, Mr. Drake?" A student said as Bobby changed the channel again.

Bobby grunted to show he had heard.

"Can you go back to that game? I wanted to watch it."

"Hmph." Bobby grunted again and tossed the remote at the kid. He groaned as he got off the couch and stretched.

The air in the mansion smelled mostly of cinnamon. The third floor smelled like burnt bread because of a certain incident involving Jubilee getting mad at a few students and chasing them into the foods lab (she may or may not have accidentally blown up an oven full of cooking breads).

Bobby Drake walked down an empty corridor. It was late morning and mostly everyone was outside, partaking in a snowball *war* that Rogue and Gambit had started. Normally, Bobby was one to be found at such an event, but today when Paige asked if he wanted to join in, he had answered (a little distractedly), "Maybe later."

Why? Because Bobby was having some major thinking to do.

The night before when he had been talking to Northstar, he had left rather abruptly. Bobby wondered whether or not Northstar ever noticed the mistletoe hanging nearby. Had he been trying to get Bobby underneath it?

/Shut up/ Bobby told himself, /you're just being paranoid/

The thing: Nobody, and Bobby knew, *nobody* knew his secret.

The secret: Bobby was gay.

The problem: He was afraid somebody would find out.

The solution: One Lorna Dane. Oh, and some others. It wasn't as if he was using Lorna, was it? He really did like her; she was interesting and fun to talk to. But he wasn't *attracted* to her.

He had run away from Northstar because he was afraid the man would figure him out.

Bobby wandered down the halls, not aiming to go anywhere in particular. He ended up in the kitchen, where a few students were sitting, warming themselves up with hot chocolate.

"Hey Mr. Drake," one said, "The team really need you out there. We're losing *big time* against the others. They have most of the teachers!"

"Uh... I'll go out later." Bobby said, grabbing a box of ice cream. Despite the winter time, Bobby opened the carton and dug a spoon in.

The kids sipped their drinks and Bobby ate the ice cream.

"Mr. Drake?" Victor, AKA Anole, said, "Isn't that ice cream Miss Rogue's?"

"Mm?" Bobby licked the spoon and went for another spoonful of ice cream.

"Won't she be, like, *mad* at you?" Anole wondered.

"nah." Bobby said, waving the spoon around. /Well, *actually*/ Bobby thought, /She probably *would* be mad. Oh well; she'll probably just blame it on the kids.../

When the spoon scraped the bottom of the carton, Logan and Jubilee walked into the kitchen. They were both wet and covered in snow.

Jubilee ran over to Bobby and gave him a hug, purposefully getting his clothes wet.

"Gee, Jubes…thanks." Bobby said dryly.

Jubilee made some hot cocoa, too, and sat down next to Bobby.

"So," she said, "I don't think people are seeing the mistletoes."

"Hm?" Bobby answered,

"People aren't kissing under the mistletoe!" Jubilee repeated, "They just walk right by!"

"Well, they're just kids. You can't expect them to cooperate." Bobby shrugged.

"What? It was *your* idea in the first place-!"

"Hey, Popsicle," Logan interrupted, leaning against the counter, "Can ya get Johnny to chaperone for the dance for me?"

Bobby shrugged. He didn't really want to talk to or about Northstar, but he replied, "I think he's going to. Yesterday he said that you're making him go."

Logan smirked and said, "I knew he'd see it my way."

"What? Did you threaten him with something, Wolvie?" Jubilee asked.

Logan grinned and glanced at the students sitting at the table. They looked down and pretended not to be listening. Logan leaned forward and said quietly, "Let's just say I know something you don't know." Then he winked and walked off.

"Ooh, whadaya think he knows, Bobby?" Jubilee said excitedly. The hyper firecracker definitely loved a bit of juicy gossip.

Bobby shrugged nonchalantly, not even pouncing at the opportunity to crack some joke about Northstar. He did however, wonder what Logan knew about Northstar.

The day of the dance, Emma Frost had a major head ache. The children were being absolute pests and most of them were trying to annoy the former White Queen on purpose.

She had given up on taking the mistletoe down since they just kept reappearing and the students didn't mind taking advantage of them either. Outside, a whole wall had snow caked three inches thick on the brick because someone thought it would be funny to try and cover the whole place in snow.

The floors in the Danger Room were slippery with ice and water as were most of the non-carpeted floors.

Emma had been running around until noon, making sure everything was in order –getting someone to do this and that, yelling at someone to *stop* doing this and that… She walked into the teacher's lounge and collapsed on the leather sofa.

"Rough day?"

Emma sat up. She hadn't noticed Logan sitting in one of the large seats facing the fire.

"Horrible. I'll be glad when the holidays are over with." Emma said. She stared at the white ceiling for a moment and then said, "Did you get someone to cover you for the dance?"

"Yup. Johnny boy'll do it."

"Jean Paul?" Emma asked in surprise, "However did you manage to convince him?"

Logan took a swig of beer from the bottle in his hand, "He likes Bobby."

"And?" Emma already knew this. You didn't have to dive deep into Jean Paul's mind to figure this out.

Logan shrugged, "I really didn't say much. Just let him know that I knew."

"I'll have Scott assign Jean Paul snack duty." Emma smiled. Not that she usually played match-maker, but she long ago decided Jean Paul needed to stop being to moody. He only lightened around Bobby Drake. Now, how to approach Drake on this…? Emma had her personal suspicions of the Iceman's sexuality. He and Lorna had been so awkward together. Then again, maybe it was just a bad coupling…

Jean Paul walked slowly (in comparison to his usual brisk, purposeful stride) down the staircase.

Students ran around, giggling and talking on their way to the dance or somewhere else to get something.

In a way, it made Jean Paul sad. It made him feel alone more than ever. Jeanne-Marie was off in who-knows-where doing who-knows-what and generally being her mentally unstable self. All around him, X-men were getting older and having their own happy relationships. Or, if they weren't, at the moment, at least they were happy.

He guessed he should've just stayed in his room, grading papers. He didn't want to got to the stupid dance to chaperone teenagers…

Going to the dance was like telling Logan he would do anything that the Iceman was doing. _Sacrebleu_! He should just turn around right now!

Of course, he probably *would* have, if he hadn't just seen Bobby and Jubilee walking down the staircase, laughing.

Jean Paul thought for a moment Bobby had seen him as he glanced backwards, but a moment later he was tricking kids into walking under the sprigs of mistletoe he and Jubilee had hung all around the mansion.

"Snack duty. Over there." Scott told Bobby.

"I *know* where it is." Bobby said.

"See ya later, popsicle!" Jubilee cackled, moving through the sea of students.

"Don't leave me!" Bobby cried dramatically, holding out his arms.

Scott smirked a little, "Don't worry, Bobby. You'll have someone to keep you company at the refreshments table."

"Really? Thank god. Who is it?" Bobby asked.

"Jean Paul." Scott said, his smirk broadening.

**A/N: Yeah, I know, I took *forever* to update. I kind of lost the excitement I had when I first started the fanfic because then I discovered… JEAN PAUL AND QUICKSILVER!**

**Pietro's, like, my *favorite* Evo character and then JP's, like, my favorite Xmen character. It was so meant to be. Anyway, I'll continue this fanfiction if people respond and want me to, but otherwise, I'm abandoning this story.**

**R&R,**

**The Scratch Man**


	3. Cheap Fruit Punch

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X men or basically anything about this story except the plot. **

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! **

… **That would be exactly ZERO people. **

**Really, thanks. I'm so touched out of all the 121 visitors from this month, exactly ZERO of y'all have decided to take two minutes to review.**

"What?" Bobby squeaked.

Scott clapped a hand on Bobby shoulder and said, "Have fun." And walked away.

"It was Emma!" Bobby yelled after his colleague, "She's trying to get back at me for the mistletoe!"

Scott waved his hand without turning around.

Bobby groaned. What was Jean Paul trying to do? Could it be a coincidence that he had gotten snack duty after Bobby had told him that *he* had gotten that?

Okay. Here's the plan: Avoid Jean Paul as *much* as possible.

Bobby made his way slowly to the table.

Jean Paul was already standing there, arms crossed over his navy blue turtle-neck and looking like a model for snotty rich men clothing. *Gorgeous* snotty rich men, but still.

Bobby put on a smile and said, "Hey JP!"

Jean Paul glanced sideways at Bobby and nodded in greeting.

Bobby peered over into the punch bowl. "When did you get here JP? The punch is already spiked." He said.

"Excellent." Jean Paul said, flatly, "I can leave now."

"Uh-uh, I don't think so." Bobby said, reaching out and grabbing Jean Paul before he could walk away.

Jean Paul looked down and then looked up at Bobby and Bobby blushed, realizing he had grabbed the speedster's hand. He quickly dropped it and said, "We, uh, have to put new punch in."

"*What*?" Jean Paul said.

"Yeah." Bobby lifted the table cloth to reveal several large bottles of red tropical punch. He grabbed two and put them on the table. "We just need to get rid of the spiked punch."

"Not a problem." Jean Paul said. He zoomed over to the window, opened it and then zoomed back, grabbed the bowl and dumped it out the window.

"JOHNNY!"

Bobby put his hand to his mouth and peered out the window.

In the middle of a *huge* spot of wetness on the driveway stood a dripping wet Wolverine.

"You are so screwed when Logan gets his hands on you." Bobby said, letting a giggle escape from behind his hand.

"_Non_. He owed *me*." Jean Paul said, wiping his hands together and leaning away from the window.

Bobby followed Jean Paul back to the table and they slowly filled up the bowl. Bobby frosted up the bowl to cool the liquid inside.

"Rockslide!" Jean Paul snapped, reaching out and grabbing a bottle from a huge teenage boy made out of rocks, "It is because of kids like you that I have to be here!"

Jean Paul threw the bottle right through the still open window and the sound of the smashing of glass was lost over the new song that was blaring through the speakers.

Santo slouched off into the crowd and Jean Paul turned to Bobby. "What?" He said sharply, seeing Bobby giving him a strange look.

"Nothing." Bobby said quickly looking away. _Stop checking him out,_ he chided himself, _He's JEAN PAUL for Christ's sake._

Emma suddenly appeared and said, "How's everything going?"

Bobby almost turned red. He hadn't been yelling, had he? Did Emma hear him?

Jean Paul took this as a chance to angrily complain about being at the dance and Emma finally said, "Alright, go off and have fun."

Bobby looked at her with suspicion. She had said that a little too quickly.

Emma blinked back innocently at him.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Bobby said.

"Going on? Oh, Bobby, why would something be 'going on'?" Emma said sweetly, "You go and have fun with Jean Paul. We don't *really* need to have our teachers boring themselves while guarding a bowl of cheap fruit punch."

She turned to Jean Paul who had suddenly gone suspicious, too, "Jean Paul, dear, you really need to learn to have some fun. Robert here is full of fun. He'll show you how to *do it*." She smirked slightly, catching the innuendo.

Jean Paul raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Robert, Jean Paul…" Emma waved and walked across the room to find Scott.

"Well, good evening, Robert." Jean Paul said, turning on his heel to leave.

"Wait!" Bobby reached out and grabbed… oh, he grabbed Jean Paul's hand…*again*. First of all, Bobby did *not* mean to do that (again). Second of all, he had *no* clue *why* he was doing this. The plan was to avoid Jean Paul, right?

Well the plan must've flown out the window with the punch.

"Yes Robert?" Jean Paul said quietly, his music almost getting drowned out by the music in the room.

Bobby dropped the speedster's hand. "Emma said I have to make you have fun." He grinned and took Jean Paul's arm instead and dragged him onto the dance floor.

**A/N: DUH DUH DUH! ****What will happen next? Gee, I dunno. Seriously. **

**I kinda stopped right there because I didn't know what else to write, so… Please review or I'll discontinue 'cuz God, this is a pain in the butt to write. My WB is horrifying! So, while you're waiting, please be sure to check out my new short, fluffy story, Happy New Year. At least, that's what I *think* I called it. I kind of forgot. And if you've finished that and are still bored, go to Fiction Press dot com and find my original works under the same pen name.**

**-The Scratch Man**


	4. Who He Likes

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men or anything else about this story except the plot.**

**A/N: A special thanks to iDefyGravity for being my first reviewer! Welcome to the X Men fandom! **

**Okay, chapter four is coming up, but don't hate me if it sucks. I'm only writing because someone reviewed! This next chapter will hopefully get the action going… remember to review when you're finished!**

Jean Paul knew how to have fun.

Of course he did. He went to gay bars occasionally, had one-night flings. Emma Frost had no right to say he didn't know how to have fun. And why was she trying to push him with Bobby –straight-as-an-arrow Bobby? What was with that knowing smirk she had had?

"You know how to dance, right?" Bobby asked, snapping Jean Paul out of his thoughts.

"Of course."

"Yeah, stupid question." Bobby laughed, swaying to the music, "So. Got your eye on anyone in the mansion?"

Jean Paul considered the question. No one had inquired about his love life for a long time, "Maybe." He answered.

"Really?" Bobby said. He frowned a little but then smiled again, "Who?"

"I'm not telling *you*." Jean Paul retorted.

"Aw, come on." Bobby laughed.

Jean Paul found himself staring at Bobby's mouth while he laughed and he blinked quickly, missing whatever Bobby had said next.

"Pardon?"

"I said you can trust me." Bobby said, flashing a very persuasive smile.

"Of *course*." Jean Paul said sarcastically, "It's not as if you and the little talkative friend of yours are the biggest gossipers in the mansion."

"Hey! I resent that!" Bobby said, "I bet it's Gambit, huh? _Ooh *Gambit*_!" Bobby mockingly squealed.

"_Non_; not Gambit." Jean Paul shook his head. Although… the Cajun *was* pretty sexy, Jean Paul preferred not to put himself in a position to feel Rogue's wrath.

"Whadabout Warren?" Bobby tried again, still grinning.

Jean Paul thought for a moment. Warren? Who was -? Oh. The pretty blonde with wings. Jean Paul shook his head.

Bobby looked thoughtful as he swayed along to the music.

A giggling couple ran by, pushing him forward. *He* didn't seem to notice, but Jean Paul did. They were only standing half a foot apart. Jean Paul was, of course, taller than Bobby –by almost four inches. Jean Paul found himself looking at Bobby's mouth again. Even in the dim lighting, those lips looked soft…

"Give me a clue?" Bobby asked.

"About what?" Jean Paul said blankly.

"About who you like?" Bobby said hopefully. The whole 'who you like' seemed so childish.

"I like someone?"

"You said!" Bobby accused.

"I said *maybe*." Jean Paul smirked, backing away. The smirk was almost forced.

"Hey! Where're you going? You can't leave yet." Bobby said at once, his eyes going wide. Pretty blue eyes.

"I won't." Jean Paul promised, "I'm just going to be right back." He took another step back and then turned.

Moving slower than he would have liked, the speed mutant made his way through the dancing students and some of the teachers until he reached the other side of the room. There was an empty space near one of the windows and Jean Paul leaned against the wall, exhaling deeply.

Who did he like?

Here's a clue: his eyes are icy blue. His hair is dirty blonde. His last name is Drake.

Oh, why of course!

Jean Paul Beaubier had a crush on the Iceman.

**A/N: I *told* you it would be short! But it did help the story move on a bit! Please review and make me a happy person! It'll only take a few seconds!**


	5. Why Him?

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men, whatever. I just own this plot, because, damn, if I really *did* own the X Men, there would be a *lot* of changes. Uno, Nightcrawler, Icarus, and bunch of other dudes would *not* die.**

**A/N: Review, blah, blah… you know the stuff… yet most of you still ignore it… [sighs dejectedly]. Well, on with the story! This chapter will probably go through everything quickly. I plan on ending this story before a chapter ten.**

**Oh, right, a special thanks to Snowspell, for being –oh look – my third reviewer! **

**PS: Okay, I know I'm doing this all wrong, but I just HAVE to add …HIM (Won't say names just yet) to this story! He won't have a major role –I swear! He's just there to understand Jean  
Paul, okay? I swear I swear I swear I swear!**

**Don't hate me… please?**

"Jean Paul! There you are!" Bobby said, appearing through the crowds, "I was attacked after you left! Scott wanted to know why we left and then I had to explain that Emma… hey, what're you doing?" He wondered.

Jean Paul looked up. "_Rien_ [1]. I am not doing anything."

Bobby pulled the end of the curtain out of Jean Paul's hands, "Ripping up the curtains counts as not doing anything?" He grinned.

Jean Paul bit the inside of this lip and glanced around. How was he supposed to escape from such a crowded place? The place next to the window where he stood was the only empty spot!

He glanced back to Bobby, "I'm, ah-" it came out scratchy and hoarse, so he cleared his throat and said more loudly, "I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic… excuse me…" He walked around the ice mutant and squeezed through the sea of swaying, dancing bodies.

Jean Paul opened the door, briefly letting some light into the dimmed room, and slipped through. From there, he sped up until he was running at the speed of… well, as fast he could go.

Paper from bulletin boards flew onto the ground as he passed, and the remaining sprigs of mistletoe floated to the ground.

In the end, he found himself on the mansion's roof. It was a pretty nice roof, mind; not very steep –almost flat –and perfect for sitting on.

Jean Paul came to a stop near the edge and plopped down with a little groan.

He brought his legs up to his chest and wrapped his around them and then rested his chin on his knees.

Why Bobby? Why the fuck did he have to have a crush on Bobby fucking Drake? It was the most horrible thing any gay man could go through –Bobby was obviously _very_ straight –as straight as Scott.

"?" Jean Paul muttered to himself over and over again. Or maybe he was asking the dark blue sky. Either way, he was talking so fast, his breath was barely frosting in the cold winter air.

"Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy…?" Jean Paul put his hands in his hair, his palms covering his eyes.

"So you're Northstar." A voice said.

Jean Paul froze and looked up and turned around.

A man wearing dark jeans and a coat was standing there.

Well, _he _definitely wasn't a student. And Jean Paul was pretty sure –scratch that –totally sure there were no white-haired mutants on the faculty or staff (A/N: Is that the same thing?).

"_Qui_. I am Northstar." Jean Paul said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He was literally on his feet in a flash.

"Huh. You _are _fast."White-haired-guy said, looking impressed.

"Should I be concerned that you're here?"

"Nah. I'm just stopping by –wanted to see some old faces. But _obviously_, I didn't pick the right day." He rolled his eyes.

"The dance is always on this day." Jean Paul informed the other man.

"Really? That's stupid. What if some guy decided to kidnap the president or something? Where would the X Men be? Dancing in the cafeteria?"

"Is there someone you'd like to see?" Jean Paul said curtly.

"In particular? Nope."

"You can come back another day." Jean Paul hinted oh-so-subtly. "Would you like to leave a name?"

"Aren'tyougettingcoldoranything?" [2] The other man asked quickly.

"_Non_. _Votre nom, s'il vous plaît_?" [3] Jean Paul insisted, "Give me your name."

The corner of the white-haired man's mouth twitched upward,"Quicksilver." He said.

"And you can do what?" Jean Paul couldn't help but ask.

"I'm fast." He said, his mouth moving into a full blown smirk.

"How fast?"

"It took me twenty to get here… from Miami." (A/N: The X-Mansion is near Winchester).

"I should go to Miami." Jean Paul mused.

"Yeah? How long d'you think it'd take you?" Quicksilver challenged.

"I don't know. I've never bothered. Twenty-five minutes, perhaps? Depending on the weather, of course." Jean Paul said, ever so modest.

"So," Quicksilver said, shoving his hands in his pocket, "Who were you talking about?"

"Pardon me?"

"You were all '_why him, why him'_? Why who?" Quicksilver raised his eyebrows.

Jean Paul frowned, "That is none of your business, Quicksilver."

"Okay, okay, whatever." He said, holding up his hands in surrender. He looked around the roof, "Heytellyouwhat [4] –don'ttellanyoneIwashereokay? AndIwon'tbotheryouanymore." [5]

"I thought you said you were here to the X Men." Jean Paul said, immediately suspicious again.

Quicksilver smiled dryly, "Of course, but I changed my mind, didn't I?"

"Alright." Jean Paul said, "Go on your way and I won't say a word."

"Promise?" Quicksilver asked.

Jean Paul was taken aback –of course he had been lying. "Why wouldn't I?"

"So do you promise?" The white-haired mutant asked again.

Jean Paul paused, "I promise."

"Thank you." Quicksilver suddenly grinned and then disappeared as he ran right over the side of the building.

Jean Paul gasped and ran to the edge of the roof just as he saw Quicksilver disappear off the school grounds, easily dodging the defense mechanisms. (A/N: Again, I'm not sure if that's right… mechanisms? I didn't know what else to call it.)

Well what the fuck was that all about?

Jean Paul shook his head to himself and smiled a little.

And then he remembered why he was on the roof in the first place, but now his crush on Bobby seemed a lot more manageable.

Not.

[1] French for the word 'nothing'

[2] Aren't you getting cold or anything?

[3] No. Your name, please?

[4] Hey, tell you what

[5] Don't tell anyone I was here, okay? And I won't bother you anymore.

**A/N: Hee hee! This chapter was basically, like, um, pointless… but have no fear! Quicksilver's visit is more than it seems! In case you guys didn't notice, I made him the Evolution-version. **

**Okay my sweeties –wait, no… my awesome readers? My followers? Whatever. Review please, as always. This story was the most visited out of all of my stories (check them out, by the way) during January, so show me that you're really there and REVIEW. Just press the stupid little button. Seriously. And then I'll mention you in chapter 6. Sound good? Huh? Don't you want to, like, be mentioned in someone else's story? **


	6. You Smell Funny

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men**

**A/N: If you reviewed my last update, raise your hand! Oh, but wait –NO ONE DID. God, people, what's your problem? I review every single story I read as least once, and yet you guys… [shakes head]. Obviously karma *doesn't* exist. **

** Some words about chapter five: Okay, so I lied in the first A/N –Quicksilver *will* have a bigger role… okay then –on with the story!**

**P.S: The You-didn't-review-so-now-I-hate-you thing no longer applies to iDefyGravity. (S)He reviewed, so now (s)he's awesome. Unlike the rest of you.**

The morning after the dance, Emma and Scott declared that there would be no classes –almost everyone had a hangover.

Bobby was not one of those people. He was up at 7 o'clock sharp and down in the kitchen making breakfast at 8.

Logan wandered in around 8:30 and opened the refrigerator as Bobby was washing his dishes.

He sat down, unfolded a newspaper and ducked behind it.

"How was the dance?" Logan spoke up just before Bobby was about to leave. The latter stopped at the doorway. "Fine, I guess." He sighed and then left.

Logan was still sitting at the counter, reading the newspaper, when Jean Paul breezed in. Literally.

"Waitaminute, Johnny." Logan growled as Jean Paul started to make off with a box of cereal.

Jean Paul sighed and set down the box, "Yes, Logan?"

Logan closed the paper and set it down. "You smell funny."

Jean Paul raised his eyebrows, "Good morning to you, too." He sniffed, starting to leave again.

"No, I *mean*, there's someone else's scent on you."

"Well, there are 200 other mutants living here." Jean Paul retorted.

"Not what I meant, Johnny." Logan growled. He stared Jean Paul down until the speedster began fidgeting. "D'you _see_ someone yesterday? Someone _not_ from the mansion? Because I know you didn't leave." Logan said.

Jean Paul crossed his arms, "No." He said, "Besides, you smell like fruit punch."

"Wonder why." Logan snarled.

Jean Paul shrugged and raced away.

/Emma/, Logan thought, settling down again, /Quicksilver was here. /

/Quicksilver?/ Emma thought back, her mental 'voice' sounding tired, /Why?/

/dunno, but his scent is all around Jean Paul/

/Are you sure it's Quicksilver/

Logan sniffed the air for a moment, /Positive./

/… I'll call Kitty and Storm, then. /

/I thought we lost contact. / Logan thought, frowning.

/Well, I guess we found it again. / Emma 'said' sarcastically.

Logan grunted and looked back down at his newspaper.

FACILITY IN TEXAS EXPLODED –NO SURVIVORS was the front cover article.

"Hm…"

**A/N: No Jean Paul/Bobby interactions in this chapter (sorry it was soooo short)! I'm thinking about turning this story into one of those action/mystery thingies that some people are really good at writing. If that should be the case, I'll have to change the summary… and probably the title. Yes, ladies in gentleman, this story will no longer be just a bit of fluff. Sorry!**

**Please review and give me some suggestions –or you can just tell me how you'd rather have the story go…**

**-The Scratch Man**


	7. I Wasn't Informed

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters**

**A/N: Aaaand I'm back from camp! It was awesome, but I'm totally tired and stuff… Anyway, I'm happy so many people dropped by to check out the story while I was gone, but no one reviewed! Of course, my standards towards reviewing have dropped since I first started on fanfiction… **

**-The Scratch Man**

"What's going on?" Bobby wondered as he walked into the office. Emma, Rahne, Rogue, Jubilee, Gambit, Warren, Alex, Piotr, Scott, Logan, and to his surprise, Kitty and Storm stood inside. Weren't they supposed to be on an undercover mission?

"You know the explosion down in Texas?" Scott said meaningfully.

"Yeah. It was on the news yesterday. You think we should check it out?"

Emma cleared her throat, "We had a few suspicions yesterday, and after following up on some of… them, we've decided to send some people down to check it out, and some others to look into some other places."

"So… you're sending us? What about Nightcrawler or Jean Paul-" Bobby closed his mouth.

"Nightcrawler is searching some *abandoned* facilities used to test mutants as we speak. We haven't called Jean Paul yet." Emma said smoothly.

"Will you?"

"He'll be informed, sooner or later." Scott said dismissively.

Bobby had more to ask, but decided not to. Why should he stick up for Jean Paul, anyway? He had totally blown Bobby off the other night at the dance.

Not that it mattered.

Because it didn't.

Right?

"Hey Jean Paul, are you going to Texas or Arizona?" Bobby asked.

Jean Paul visibly jumped and whirled around.

"Oh, heh heh, sorry if I scared you." Bobby said, approaching the other mutant.

Jean Paul immediately assumed the usual haughty expression, "You did not frighten me, Robert… Pardon me, what did you ask?"

"I was wondering if Emma told you to go to Texas or Arizona. She said she'd tell you later –but that was this morning, so-" Bobby started,

"Why are we going to Texas or Arizona?" Jean Paul snapped.

"Um… the *mission*…? Didn't Emma tell you or anything?"

Jean Paul but his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow, "Does it seem that way, *Robert*?"

"Um…" Bobby blanked. *Why hadn't* Emma said anything? The meeting where they were assigned the two different groups had been three hours earlier.

"Just tell me what's going on." Jean Paul said impatiently.

"Well, we're uh, going to check out some facilities. That's all." Bobby said.

Jean Paul crossed his arms, "Alright. Thank you for telling me that, Robert. I will be _speaking with Emma_." He said, his eyes narrowing at the thought.

Bobby smiled uncertainly, "Okay, um. Well, I'm going to Texas, so…" He shrugged and continued down the hall.

Jean Paul turned in the opposite direction, starting toward Emma and Scott's office just as a group of students came running down the hall.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, KELLER!" A golden-skinned boy known as Elixir screamed, chasing after one of Jean Paul's students, as said student flew down the hallway surrounded in a greenish light, cackling with laughter.

**A/N: Yeah, sorry for the abrupt ending, but I just needed to update so I wouldn't feel bad about just leaving this chapter sitting. I won't be updating for a while; sorry! Please review.**


	8. Mission

**Disclaimer: Do not own the X Men **

**A/N: Has anyone been keeping up with the X Men comics? The most recently published comic I have read is Nation X which is basically where al 238 mutants live on Asteroid M and stuff. Northstar is in that comic, so all JP fans should read Nation X is they simply want a glance of our beautiful X Man. Does anyone know what ever happened to Rogue and Gambit? I love me so Gambit…. ANY hoodles, watch the Brianinnis You Tube channel. They also host Gays of the Week on Tuesday, so… **

**ONWARD! I'm going to start rushing this story (sorry to anyone who expected a huge long story or whatever).**

**Also: I'm going to be mixing in some X Men evo stuff.**

Jean Paul didn't get to Emma or Scott until late in the afternoon. The New Mutants Elixir and Hellion, one of Jean Paul's students, had –as usual –gotten into some sort of fight.

However, once everything was straightened out and detentions were given, Jean Paul was back to his original destination.

He walked right into the office after knocking once. Emma and Scott were standing near the window, discussing something in hushed tones as Jean Paul burst into the room.

They quickly stopped conversing and turned to him looking slightly guilty.

"Jean Paul. What's up?" Scott said.

"I have been informed that there is a mission of some great importance." Jean Paul said icily, "_Why was I not fucking told_ that earlier? You have not even chosen to mention it to me at all. I had to hear it from Robert Drake!"

There wasn't anything particularly wrong with hearing it from Bobby, but all the same, the leaders of the X Men should have at least told Bobby to pass it on… but no, Bobby had been asking which group Jean Paul would be going with for the mission.

"Jean Paul, dear," Emma started, "We feel it would be best if you stayed here at the mansion with Hank and Gambit… We need someone to watch over the kids."

"So this mission requires almost all of the X Men?" Jean Paul said, putting his hands on his hips, "I can be of use, then."

Emma and Scott exchanged looks, "We need you to hold down the fort, Jean Paul." Scott said, "Gambit, Hank, and Jubilee will be remaining, also, and there will be no classes until we return."

Jean Paul stared at him. They were leaving Gambit and Jubilee behind? Those two were the sneakiest people on the team. Gambit could get past the most sophisticated security systems in the world and Jubilee could talk her way into anything, anywhere.

Why would *they* be left?

"I can stay," Jean Paul said, "But I don't understand why you did not feel the need to mention the upcoming mission at all."

Emma shrugged, "Must've slipped our minds, dear."

Jean Paul grinded his teeth together at that and felt a twitch starting to develop in his left eye.

The X Men departed from the mansion the following day. The kids relaxed, happy for another day off.

Jean Paul would have liked to retreat to his room and lock the door, but there were only four X Men, including himself who were still at the mansion to watch nearly 200 mutant kids, so he had hang around and make sure the hellions didn't cause too much damage.

Currently, the speed mutant sat grouchily in the rec room, his arms crossed over his chest.

"How's it goin', _homme_?" said a certain Cajun said as he entered the room.

Jean Paul didn't usually talk to Gambit, finding his way of talking in third person quite annoying. No amount of sexiness could cover up for that.

"Never been better." Jean Paul replied dryly.

"Hey, Remy understands." Gambit said, sitting down on the couch next to Jean Paul, "Didn't know why Emma and Scott wanted to make me stay back, but dere aint no reason to argue. Remy told himself it was just because dis wasn't de sort of mission for him."

The third person point of view talking was not doing anything for the twitch in Jean Paul's eye.

"They don't even know what they expect to find at these facilities they are going to. Why take almost all of the X Men, then?" Jean Paul said.

"Dat's a good point. I heard Emma and Scott talking just before dey left…"

"And?" Jean Paul prompted.

"Dey mentioned Pietro Maximoff." Gambit said, his voice lowering.

"Who is Maximoff?" Jean Paul asked.

Gambit looked over at him, "Magneto's son. Dey estranged of course… Remy's met the cocky little brat before, when we were younger –back when de X Men were only teenagers. Hmph, look at us now. Old men."

"I hardly think twenty nine counts as being an old man." Jean Paul sniffed.

"Well Remy ain't no twenty nine anymore." Gambit sighed, "Anyhow, Remy hasn't seen any Maximoff in years. De last I saw, Pietro and de Brotherhood were still living in that boarding house back in Bayville."

"If they live only a few hours away-"

"But Emma and Scott weren't talkin' about visitin' dem. Dey just saying dat Logan smelled some Quicksilver around de mansion."

Jean Paul froze, "Quicksilver?"

"Yep, dat bein' Pietro's codename." Gambit said, not oblivious to Jean Paul's sudden rigidness. He observed Jean Paul carefully, "Speedy little guy. Faster den you, prob'ly."

Jean Paul looked across the rec room, his face clear of any emotion, "Really? How long do you think it would take him to get here from Miami?"

"You wanna tell Remy somethin', _mon ami_?" Gambit said.

"This place gives me the creeps." Bobby muttered, walking through the charred remains of the Texan facility that had made national news with its explosion.

"Ugh. Tell me about it." Kitty Pryde said, looking around the place.

"What are we even looking for?"

"Anything suspicious, Scott said." Kitty replied.

"Yeah, well, what wouldn't be suspicious about some place in the middle of nowhere that just blew up?" Bobby said, stepping over the burnt remains of a machine that had fallen on the ground.

"Scott and Emma *were* being pretty vague about everything." Kitty said.

"Iceman, this is Colossus." A voice said through Bobby's com link, "Have you found anything?"

"Nope." Bobby replied.

"Nothing in the west side, either. Should we head back?" Piotr asked.

"Eh, in a few minutes. Scott will have a temper tantrum if we slack off." Bobby snickered.

He and Kitty started down what was left of a hallway.

There was a sudden *whoosh* and Kitty and Bobby were sent tumbling to the ground.

"Damn it." Bobby grumbled, getting up and then helping Kitty to her feet.

"Hey look, It's the kid X-Geeks all grown up."

"Omigod! Pietro!" Kitty gasped.

The white-haired speedster stood in front of them, his hands on his hips, looking as bossy as ever. "I thought you would have lost the valley-girl accent by now." Pietro smirked.

Bobby stared at Pietro Maximoff, his eyes wide. Pietro was only four years his senior, but he had always seemed much older. Now was no exception. Bobby was suddenly feeling like an awkward thirteen year old again.

"What're you doing here? Is the Brotherhood here?" Kitty asked, looking around.

Pietro rolled his eyes, "Yeah right. Todd and Blob went over to work for Magneto years ago. Wanda checks in every few months to see if I'm dead yet and Lance is working in some auto-repair shop somewhere. Like Alvers could ever really do anything else but fix motors." He snorted. He turned his attention to Bobby, "Did you get taller?" He squinted, "You used to be –what, five feet tall?"

"Listen, Pietro, if you have something to do with-"

"Of course I have something to do with this. I'm tracking down Magneto. So don't try and arrest me or something." He smirked, "You wouldn't be able to catch me, anyway."

"Well you could have just come and tell us you were here." Bobby spoke up.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

"Fun…?"

"I need to see what's-his- face –the bald one." Pietro said, changing the topic.

"the Professor no longer lives at the mansion." Kitty said, "We think he may be dead."

"Oh well. Who's in charge right now then?"

"Scott." Bobby and Kitty said.

"Mr. Uptight?" Pietro snorted, "Alright. Take me to see your fearless leader."

A/N: Right, so most of you who have read the Jean Paul/Pietro trilogy by Beaubier probably recognize the 'Fearless Leader' part.

I'm thinking I might this more of the Evo X Men. I like Evo better, so….

Another thing, I'm not sure if I still want to do a Jean Paul/Bobby fic. If you want it to continue being that pairing, speak up and review. Frankly, I think Jean Paul and Pietro are the best couple ever invented. Then again, maybe that's because those two are my favorite X Men characters of all time. Well, no. I think they tie with X Men Evolution's Pyro.

Please review!


	9. Pietro At The Mansion

**Disclaimer: This is depressing… here goes: I don't own the goddamn X Men. Sad, in'nit?**

**A/N: Okay, I know I didn't really give anyone a chance to protest, but I'm seriously this close – I I – to changing this to a Jean Paul/Pietro fiction. And maybe Gambit/Pyro if I'm feeling whacky. I have no clue who Bobby will end up with, but it's likely he'll retreat further back into his closet. I kinda feel bad for him. As you may be able to tell, this is turning into a really warped up X Men comics/Evolution crossover fiction.**

**Huh. I just realized something. I was originally going to end this fiction in chapter five. My plan was that Bobby would follow JP and then there would be some deep and meaningful talk and then there'd be a smooch and then cue the end credits. But nooooo… I had to go on to chapter six… and then seven… and then eight… and now nine… [shakes head and sighs]**

"They're baaack!" Jubilee sang as she skipped past Jean Paul the next morning. They quickly traveled down to the hangar and arrived just as the other X Men filed out of the Blackbirds; some from the Arizona mission and some from the Texas mission.

Jean Paul watched the X Men carefully and quickly picked out Bobby from the crowd.

The ice-mutant seemed to be in a foul mood, his shoulders hunched over, a sulky expression on his face.

Jean Paul wondered what had happened. Jubilee vocalized this very thought.

"SO! What happened, Wolvie?" She asked Logan, skipping up to meet him halfway.

"Oh, so it's _Wolvie_ now, huh?" Someone said, exiting the Blackbird last.

Jean Paul's eyes widened as he recognized the white-haired mutant from the night of the dance.

Quicksilver or as Gambit had called him, Pietro Maximoff.

Then his eyes narrowed. This had better have a good explanation.

"It's still Wolverine, kid, and I still got the claws. Watch your mouth." Logan snapped at the mutant.

"We're going to take some time to freshen up and then we'll be meeting in the Meeting Room." Scott said, heading out of the hangar, "One hour, okay?"

"Jesus, this place is so different." Pietro was saying.

Kitty nodded, "And there are way more students. Do you want to get some street clothes to wear?"

Pietro looked down at his costume, which was similar to the one he had worn a teen except it had no shoulder pads. He put on hand on his hip, "Is there anything you people own that wasn't made for an old man?" He said obnoxiously.

Bobby was exiting the hangar and Jean Paul was about to turn and follow him to find out what had happened when Pietro looked over Kitty's shoulder and said, "Hey! It's Mr. Speedy-Skier!"

Speedy Skier?

That was an annoying nickname.

Pietro was standing next to Jean Paul in a flash. "How'sitgoin'? XMenleftyoubehindhuh? Thatsucks. Isitbecause_you_suck? [1]" He smirked.

Jean Paul crossed his arms, "So we meet again."

"Way to go, Captain Obvious!" Pietro snorted.

Jean Pau looked at Pietro. In the light, he looked different; younger. Maybe it was because he acted like an obnoxious teen.

"Does this have anything to do with your previous visit?"

Pietro made a face, ". You'llturnintoSummers…Theolderone, nottheHawaiianmidgetguy.[2]"

Jean Paul sniffed, and Kitty, who had just now caught up, could almost feel the two speedsters' air of I'm-so-hot-and-better-than-you crashing between them.

"Erm. You guys going to keep standing there or get a move on? You're kinda blocking the doorway for me." Kitty said.

Jean Paul broke off the glare which he had been directing towards Pietro and turned, opening the door.

In a flash, Pietro zoomed in in front of him, smirking at Jean Paul as he passed.

Jean Paul resisted the childish impulse to make a face and held the door open wider for Kitty.

Once everyone was comfortably seated for the meeting, Scott spoke up, "For those of you who were not on the mission, I'll first give a brief overview: Despite a few suspicions, nothing was found in the facilities in Arizona, but obviously, we picked up Pietro-" Scott worked hard to keep the disdain out of his voice, "-in Texas. He will now tell us what he was doing there." The last part of Scott's speech was an order.

Pietro smirked from where he sat with his legs thrown over the side of his chair. He swung them around and sat straight, "Right, so, I've been tracking down Magneto for almost three weeks now. I followed the trail to the place in Texas and got there just when it exploded. So I had to lay low until the reporters and other people were finished having their fun before I could investigate… and that's when you guys came into the picture."

The X Men asked questions: Why was he tracking down Magneto? Did he see anyone? Where had his search led him? (Because he wanted to, no, and New Orleans, Miami, Manhattan, Bayville and Texas).

Meanwhile, Jean Paul wondered why –if that was the case –had Pietro been led to the mansion during his searches.

"So what's the next move? Why do you need the X Men's help?" Scott asked Pietro.

Pietro made a slight face; he obviously didn't like the idea of asking for help from anyone. "I need to use Cerebro –y'know that thing Xavier 'used to track down mutants?"

"We call it Cerebra, now," Emma informed Pietro, "You need it to track down Magneto, I assume?"

"Yeah. The old man has been avoiding me. If you track him down, I'll get outta your hair."

"We need to discuss this." Rogue spoke up,

"What's dere to discuss, _chere_?" Gambit disagreed from where he sat next to his girlfriend.

Rogue looked taken aback. Gambit usually agreed with her, "He can't be trusted! He doesn't just want Cerebra ta find Magneto! He probably wants to-"

"Hello! Sittin' right here, Rogue. Still got that stupid skunk stripe, I see?" Pietro said, crossing his arms.

"No, Rogue has a point," Storm said, "We should discuss this some more."

"What is dere to discuss?" Gambit asked, annoyed, "Boy wants to find his old man. What more explanation do you need? It'd take 'bout five minutes, non?"

The tension in the room increased greatly.

The other X Men looked between Gambit and Rogue. Rogue had here arms crossed. She scooted away from Gambit, looking sour.

Pietro raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between them, "Well, I dunno about you, but-"

"Shut-! It…" Scott said, "Pietro, we will discuss what we will be doing. For those of you who have to classes to teach soon, please stay."

Storm, Kitty, Emma, Scott, Piotr, Logan, Rogue, Lorna, Alex, Kurt, and Rahne stayed behind. The rest of the X Men filed out of the Meeting Room. Gambit motioned for Pietro to follow him, "Dis way. You can stay in Remy's room for de moment." He said.

Jean Paul watched Pietro follow Gambit down the hall.

"I never liked Pietro." Bobby said.

Jean Paul hadn't even realised that the Iceman had been standing next to him.

"You knew him?"

"Yeah; back when the X Men lived in Bayville, not Westchester. He was part of the Brotherhood, which was run by Mystique for a while." [3]

"Kurt's mother?" Jean Paul asked.

"That's the one." Bobby said, grinning.

Jean Paul smiled back.

Bobby suddenly looked down. They both began walking down the hall, "So Rogue didn't look happy about Gambit disagreeing with her."

"I'm sure they will come to an understanding," Jean Paul replied, "But Gambit has a right to his own opinion."

"Yeah… But Rogue probably thinks Gambit just disagreed because he used to be an Acolyte [4]… which is probably true." Bobby added in afterthought.

Jean Paul was secretly thrilled that he had talked to Bobby for more than ten minutes. Ever since the Christmas dance, Bobby had been saying hi whenever he saw Jean Paul in the hall and sometimes even stopped for petty conversation. A great improvement since before, in Jean Paul's opinion.

Unfortunately, Jean Paul's good mood was slightly diminished as he started his flying class and had to deal with Julian Keller and all of the other annoying X-Kids.

Jay Guthrie was probably Jean Paul's favorite student. The red-winged boy was quiet and could fly perfectly, which is why he often was allowed to just fly around as he pleased.

Today Julian, codename Hellion (Jean Paul thought it was the perfect name) was causing trouble with the other kids with his telekinesis. A few students had mysteriously started flying out of control, and when Jean Paul turned around to glare at the class, Julian was the obvious culprit (he was having trouble hanging in the air, too, but it was only due to his laughing).

Jean Paul was in the midst of yelling at Hellion when the other kids in the class noticed a white streak approaching in the distance from the direction of the mansion.

"Hey, is that Noriko?" Megan Gwynn (AKA Pixie) asked.

"No, Noriko would be a leaving a blue streak…" Jay barely replied as Pietro appeared on the ground below the class.

"Who is that?" Julian sneered.

Jean Paul crossed his arms and flew to the ground, "How may I help you, Quicksilver?"

"I was just watching the classes_, Northstar_." Pietro said innocently.

"You are disrupting my class, though," Jean Paul said.

"Hey, watch this," Julian whispered.

A moment later, Pietro began to rise into the air, cutting him off midsentence.

He looked around grinned evilly as he floated to the young mutant's level, "If you want it that way," He shrugged. His legs began to move as if he was running and all of the sudden the mutants were faced with a small twister.

Northstar watched from the ground as Pietro kicked up a strong wind and pulled a few of the students into the twister, including Julian. Julian took his telekinetic hold off of Pietro and the mutants fell to the ground.

"Gotchya, X-Geek!" Pietro smirked, leaning over Julian.

The other students laughed in delight and asked Pietro to do it again, but Julian was angry (and humiliated) and refused to raise Pietro into the air again.

Jean Paul watched as Pietro climbed to his feet and brushed his clothes (borrowed from Gambit) off, smirking at Julian Keller in a smug manner.

For the rest of class, the students flew as fast as they could, trying to create a twister themselves, and Jean Paul simply gave up trying to restore order (If he wanted to, it would be done, though) and created a twister himself for the delight of the youngsters. His wasn't nearly as strong because he didn't like circling too fast, but the students were still thrilled.

Pietro watched from the ground for a while and then raced back to the mansion after a while.

At dinner, Bobby approached Jean Paul's table in the staff room, and sat next to him, "Man, Rogue and Gambit were having this _huge_ argument in the hall when I passed them on the way here." He said.

Jean Paul cocked his head to the side and said, "They did not get over it after all, _non_?"

Bobby nodded and expressed his thoughts about whether or not the argument was really about Gambit's disagreement, "Maybe they've been having some troubles already."

The door to the room opened and Gambit came in with his dinner; Rogue was nowhere to be seen. He had a slightly agitated expression, but Jean Paul thought that might've been because Pietro was saying something to Gambit, looking smug as usual.

Gambit came over to the table where Bobby and Jean Paul sat and asked if he and Pietro could join them.

They were welcomed to the table (even though Jean Paul and Bobby were not very fond of Gambit's white-haired acquaintance).

"So," Bobby said, "It looked like you and Rogue were having a problem earlier today. Is everything okay?"

Gambit sighed, "No, Rogue's been pickin' fights with Remy for a while. It's getting' old. Remy told her so an' she jus' got angrier…"

Pietro showed excellent restraint by not using this as a chance to bash Rogue.

He poured several sugars into a cup of coffee he had in front of him.

"_Mon ami_," Gambit said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, "Please tell Gambit dat dat is decaf."

Pietro shrugged, "It's decaf," He said as asked. He poured another pack of sugar into the cup, stirred it and put the cap of the cup back on in one swift motion.

Gambit groaned and poked at the food on his plate.

"Y'know," Pietro said, "If I end up getting to use Cerebra, I'm gonna have to call Pyro over. God knows what he's doing right now…"

Gambit looked up, an odd look in his eyes, "Pyro?"

"Uh huh," Pietro said, sipping his coffee, "He's hanging out in the old boarding house right now. Do you think I should just call him today?" He wondered.

"Pyro?" Bobby squeaked, "That lunatic?"

"Yeah, he said he didn't have anything to do, and so I told him he could come with me and blow things up when we found Magneto."

"But he's crazy!" Bobby gasped.

Gambit nodded in agreement.

Jean Paul sighed, "I do not know the details of the X Men's life before I joined. Who the hell is _Pyro_?"

"Pyro be an old friend of Remy's, back when de Acolytes were. He controls fire."

"Fire manipulation and insanity do not seem like a good mixture." Jean Paul noted.

"It's not," Bobby said darkly.

"SoIshouldcontacthimthen, right?" [5] Pietro grinned evilly, finishing off his coffee.

"No!" Bobby said, but Pietro had already disappeared.

"Dis perfect," Gambit said gloomily, "First Remy has a problem wit' Rogue, now Pyro gon' come."

"I thought you said that he was your friend?" Jean Paul said questioningly.

"Yeah, Pyro was Remy's friend back when we were Acolytes… Mebbe even his best friend." Gambit sighed dejectedly and stood up, taking his barely touched plate and leaving.

Bobby watched him go, "Okay, maybe it's just me, but aren't you supposed to be happy to see an old friend?"

Jean Paul shrugged. He too was puzzled by Gambit's actions, "Maybe he is too sad over Rogue." He suggested.

Meanwhile, Scott had tracked down Pietro in the hall.

"Hey Summers, come to a decision yet? Or do you need some more time so your slow little mind kind think more about it?" Pietro asked, seeing Scott approach him.

"We've decided that we will use Cerebra to help you find Magneto…" Scott said,

"But?" Pietro prompted,

"But we just ask that you explain why you need to contact Magneto." Scott finished,

"I told you: Because I want to and he's my father." Pietro said immediately. Scott was not to miss that the hastiness in which Pietro answered the question was not due to his mutation.

"Really, Pietro?"

"Yeah. You don't believe me?" Pietro challenged.

"No," Scott said,

"Soyouwon'?" Pietro asked, crossing his arms.

"Um…?"

Pietro sighed impatiently and took the time to say each word slowly and carefully, "So you. Won't. Help me. Find Magneto. Unless I tell you?" He said.

"Well, no, but we'd like to know what this is all about. Of course we'll still use Cerebra to find Magneto."

"Good. Then that's what's gonna happen. I just want to find Magneto." Pietro said stubbornly.

Scott put up his hands in front of him, "Okay, I believe you then. Do you have a preference over who searches for Magneto?"

Pietro raised his eyebrows, "There's a choice? I thought Xavier and Grey were gone."

Scott's features froze for a flickering moment, but to Pietro, it was longer, "Emma Frost or the Stepford Cuckoos are available."

"The Stepford Cuckoos?" Pietro repeated incredulously,

"Emma, then?" Scott said. He looked around and checked his watch, "Listen, I've gotta go and we won't be able to check Cerebra until tomorrow. So there's an empty room on the third floor you can stay…"

Jean Paul was really happy. Ecstatic. He felt _high_.

He and Bobby had talked for a long time during and after dinner. Never before had Jean Paul talked so much with the Iceman. He truly felt as though they were becoming friends.

The only problem with seeing Bobby more often was…

That Bobby might notice Jean Paul's crush on him.

Then again, if the time came, and Bobby understood, all could be fine.

Bobby reached his room and noticed the door to the room next to his was ajar. He knew for a fact that that room was empty.

He pushed it open a little more. There was no one inside, but he could hear water running in the bathroom.

"_Pietro_ is stayin' in there,"

Bobby jumped, startled.

Rogue stood behind him, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"What?"

"Pietro's staying there tonight," Rogue said, looking agitated.

"Oh," He closed the door and opened his own.

Rogue glared at Pietro's closed door, "Hey, Bobby," Rogue said just as Bobby was about to turn around and wish her good night, "Remember when we used tah live in Bayville?"

"Yeah," Bobby said, leaning against the doorway.

"Pietro was always trouble back then, and Ah'm sure he'll only bring trouble now."

[1] "How's it goin'? X men left you behind, huh? That sucks. Is it because _you_ suck?"

[2] "Quit sounding so uptight and sophisticated. You'll turn into Summers… the older one, not the Hawaiian midget guy."

[3] Obviously, in this fic, Mystique and Bobby never dated. That was just weird in the first place.

[4] First of all, I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong, but for those of you who don't know X Men Evo that well, the Acolytes were basically just Magneto's henchmen. They were Sabertooth, Gambit, Pyro, and Colossus. Since Pietro and Wanda were in the Brotherhood, the two groups had a few interactions.

[5] "So I should contact him then, right?"

**A/N: Review! Review! Review! Who should be the villain here? I'm thinking Sinister and the Marauders…**


	10. Pyro At The Mansion

**Disclaimer: Well… check the other chapter…**

**A/N: Wow. Chapter 9 was long. I think some of Stormkpr's amazing abilities are rubbing off on me –I was rereading her X Men trilogy. Sorry for any typos (no beta, and no patience to edit) and I hope you enjoy chapter ten (Time flies!)! Please review.**

"Hey, look," Santo said, nudging Julian.

Quicksilver was walking by at a surprisingly normal pace.

The two mutants watched Quicksilver turn around the corner.

"I don't like that guy." Julian muttered, staring at the place where the white-haired mutant had been.

Santo laughed, "That's because he made you look like an idiot for your flying class!"

"Shut up!" Julian yelled, "And he's going to pay for that! Who the fuck does he think he is? He's not an X Man."

"Well, neither are you." Santo reminded Julian.

"Will you shut up?" Julian snapped, "The white-haired snob is going _down_."

"Yeah, but you'd better watch out. His sister is the Scarlet Witch and his father is Magneto." Santo grinned.

"What? How do you know?"

"The Cuckoos told me."

[]

Pietro pushed open the door to Xavier's old office. It belonged to Summers and Frost, now, he noted.

"Ready to go?" Frost said, turning towards him.

"Lead the way, lady." Pietro replied.

Frost swept past him and started down the hall.

Just as they arrived on the ground floor, she stopped and turned toward the front doors, "It seems we have a visitor," she said before moving on, /Mr. Keller, please open the doors and allow the mutant outside to come in. Tell him he is to wait in the hall until I come to get him/ she thought towards Julian.

In the front hall, Julian sighed and he and Santo went to the doors.

Whoever was outside was banging on the door.

"Oi! Open up!"

Julian half considered asking for a password, but ended up opening the door.

Outside stood a man with spiky orange-red hair, red sunglasses and –_flamethrowers_ strapped to his back over a brown trench coat.

"It isn't nice to leave people waitin'!" the man said, walking right in, "Right. So where's Pietro?"

"Uh… Miss Frost says you have to wait here until she comes to get you."

"Frost!" the man said, looking horrified, "Oy _hate_ frost! What sort o' place is this? Do they teach you how to torture people?" he looked around in suspicion and then walked past Santo and Julian and up the stairs.

"Hey!" Julian yelled, "You have to wait here!"

The man looked over his shoulder, "Oh, cark it, pretty boy," he grinned and glanced back at Julian again, "You _are_ a pretty boy, aren't you? D'you think you'd look better burning?"

"Let's not try and find out." Someone said from behind him.

"That dude's supposed to stay here until Miss Frost comes back." Julian told Jean Paul immediately.

Jean Paul looked at the man, "Your name is Pyro, I presume?"

"That's right!" St. John Allerdyce said brightly. Then he added with suspicion, "How do you know me? Wait, if this is because Oy burned your sister, Oy said Oy was sorry. She just looked so pretty-"

"Gambit has spoken of you,"

"Gambit? That bastard's still around?" Pyro said happily,

"Yes. My name is Jean Paul Beaubier," He said,

"Do you have another name?" Pyro asked,

"My codename is Northstar, if that's what you mean."

"Alright, JP, where the hell is Pietro?" Pyro said.

"I do not know." Jean Paul said, "I believe he is with whoever is finding Magneto in Cerebra's room."

Pyro pushed his sunglasses onto his head, "Right. So where can I find Gambit, then?"

"Just follow the sound of the yelling," Jubilee said as she came down the stairs. She stopped and stared at Pyro. "Well look at you!" She laughed, snapping her gum (which, even in the morning she liked to chew), "Pyro from the Acolytes, right?"

Meanwhile, Julian skulked away, Santo following him.

"What do you mean by that, Jubilee?" Jean Paul frowned, speaking of Jubilee's first comment.

"He and Rogue are still fighting," Jubilee explained. Most of the X Men knew about the two's arguments by now.

Pyro looked delighted by this, "The white-haired Sheila still lives here, too?"

"Yup," Jubilee said. She continued down the stairs and walked down the hall.

"Oy gotta see this," Pyro muttered happily, racing up the stairs.

Jean Paul caught up to him in a flash and took hold of Pyro's arm, "Now might not be the best time…"

"Are you joking, mate? Now's the _best_ time!" Pyro cackled, pulling away, and walked down the hall.

Jean Paul followed Pyro as he walked down the hall. A few students walking by stared at the Aussie with curiosity.

"REMY! Come back! We need to talk about this!" Rogue's voice came from down the hall.

Pyro and Jean Paul stopped as the Cajun came out of a room to the left and stormed down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Hee hee! There he is!" Pyro giggled, "And he grew his hair out! Ha!"

Rogue appeared from the room and ran down the hall after Gambit.

Pyro turned around and walked down the hall back to the staircase on the other end, "Aright, Oy've seen enough! This is bloody brilliant..." He chuckled to himself, "Oi, mate! You got a pen on you?" He asked Jean Paul.

The speedster followed Pyro and shook his head, "_Non_."

Pyro stopped groping around his clothes for a pen and looked at Jean Paul, "You, too? What is this? New France or somethin'? Oy swear…"

"Gambit is Cajun, I am Quebecois, and _neither_ of us are French." Jean Paul corrected immediately.

"Anyway…" Pyro shrugged, and went back to searching for a pen.

"I thought you wanted to see Gambit –why are you just leaving now?" Jean Paul asked as they descended the stairs.

"Oy did see him!" Pyro exclaimed, looking surprised, He pulled out a scrap of paper from his trench coat pocket and went back to looking for a pen.

[]

Pietro waited impatiently while Emma Frost concentrated on Cerebra.

Finally, she took off her helmet and looked at Pietro wearily, "You have some explaining to do, Quicksilver. Why the hell is Magneto's mutant signature near the Marauders'?"

"The Marauders?"

"They work for Sinister. He's not a mutant, so he doesn't show up on Cerebra, but where the Marauders are, he's always nearby."

Pietro raised an eyebrow, "Sinister's got my father?"

"It would appear so." Emma replied, crossing her arms as she stood to face him.

"_Great_."

[]

When Emma and Pietro came into the front hall, Julian and Santo were nowhere to be seen, but Jean Paul stood there with his arms crossed, next to an orange-haired man in a trench coat with red sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead. He was giggling and muttering under his breath as he scribbled something onto scraps of paper in his hand.

"Here," Jean Paul said, pushing Pyro towards Pietro and Emma with an annoyed look, "You can have him,"

Emma's eyes widened and she smiled, "So _you're_ Pyro. Pleasure to meet you, my name is Emma Frost."

Pyro glared at her hand, "Oy don't like frost," He said.

Jean Paul sighed and walked past them, "You're welcome, Emma." He said as he left.

"Heh, you made it," Pietro told Pyro, "Unfortunately for you, Sinister has Magneto, which means you probably won't be able to set anything on fire a little while more."

Pyro scowled and stuffed his paper and pen into his pocket, "Fuck," He said.

"Yes indeed," Emma said mildly, "Pietro, take Pyro to the cafeteria for breakfast if he hasn't had any yet. I'll be calling the other X Men for another meeting this afternoon after classes. Until then, I would appreciate if you stay here at the mansion. You can leave if you like, but the two of you won't be able to handle Sinister alone."

Now it was Pietro's turn to scowl. Still, what Emma said was true, so he nodded and took led Pyro down the hall.

[]

"I heard you and Rogue arguing this morning," Bobby said as Gambit skulked into the kitchen.

"We still fighting," Gambit confirmed moodily, "Looks like Rogue with break up with Remy… _again_."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Bobby said as Gambit sat down at the table, "but maybe it would be for the best."

Gambit started attacking his omelet, and didn't appear to have heard Bobby until he said, "We been through a lot together, but maybe you're right. Remy don't feel the spark anymore, if you know what I mean?"

Bobby nodded, "I understand."

At that moment, Jean Paul zoomed into the kitchen, looking annoyed and ranting in French under his breath. He put his breakfast down at the table and sat down, scraping his chair noisily as he pulled himself closer to the table.

"Um… Is something wrong, JP, or are you just not a morning person?" Bobby wondered.

Jean Paul's mood lightened considerably as Bobby smiled.

"Don't call me that, Robert," He said,

"Only if you stop calling me 'Robert'. I mean, it makes me feel either really old or boring, or like a little kid in trouble." Bobby replied.

"Alright, _Bobby_," Jean Paul said, "I am not a morning person in general, but today I had the misfortune of meeting Quicksilver's accomplice as soon as I started down the stairs."

"Pyro's here?" Gambit asked,

"_Oui_. And he dragged me up the staircase –not literally, of course; I followed him because I felt it necessary –just to watch you walk out of your room and then he insisted that the timing wasn't right and he refused to go say hello… Then there was that crazy search for a pen… He is quite eccentric, in my opinion." Jean Paul finished with a huff.

Gambit smiled slightly, "Pyro writes romance novels," he said, "And in the past, he has often used _me_ as someone to base his male characters off of."

"Really?" Bobby gaped.

"_Oui_," Gambit said, smiling fully now.

"Hmph. Speak of the devil," Jean Paul said as Pietro and Pyro walked into the room.

A few other X Men eating breakfast looked up and stared wearily at Pyro.

"Remy!" Pyro exclaimed happily, "It's been a while, mate!" He skipped over and hugged Gambit, who had gotten to his feet.

"Why, _mon ami_, is that _Remy's _ trench coat?" Gambit asked, stepping back,

"Yeah, but you bloody left it behind when you went back to New Orleans! And look –you've got a new one!"

"That _is_ Remy's," Gambit murmured to himself, looking amused.

"It makes me feel cool," Pyro sniffed, crossing his arms.

Gambit smirked and turned to Bobby and Jean Paul, "John, dis is Bobby Drake. He was a kid back when we were Acolytes, so you prob'ly don' remember him. And you already know Jean Paul, right?"

Pyro cackled, "Right."

Pietro appeared next to Pyro and put a plate of food in his hands, "Sit, Pyro."

"Aye, aye." Pyro saluted and grinned lopsidedly, pulling up a chair next to Gambit.

"So I suppose you _aren't_ leaving today?" Jean Paul said to Pietro as the latter sat down to his left, next to Pyro.

"Well, I knew how much you'd miss me, so I decided to stay," Pietro shot back,

Bobby frowned slightly, but no one saw.

Jean Paul shot Pietro a cold stare.

The five mutants ate their breakfast while Pyro chattered away with Gambit.

A few minutes later, Bobby and Jean Paul left to go teach their morning classes.

Gambit did not teach except in the Danger Room with the New X Men, so he stayed behind with Pyro and Pietro.

"Oy'm guessing your efforts to charm the little white-haired Sheila haven't been working so well?" Pyro asked Gambit.

Gambit's expression darkened, "Rogue and Remy been fighting lately."

"Well-women-can't-be-trusted-that's-what-I-always-said," Pietro shrugged, "I-mean-look-at-Wanda!"

"Aw, Wanda's not so bad," Pyro said, "She's got a fiery temper –which Oy personally find very attractive,"

"Ew! Watch-it-Pyro-that's-my-sister-you're-talking-about!" Pietro said in disgust,

"Sorry, mate," Pyro said, not looking very sorry at all.

Pietro crossed his arms and glared.

Gambit watched their interactions with amusement and wondered how the two had gotten along before. Maybe Pietro had just left Pyro behind while he went to search for Magneto.

"So. I heard Northstar's gay." Pietro said randomly, snapping Gambit out of his thoughts.

"_Oui_, He wrote an autobiography." Gambit confirmed.

"He's like what –thirty? How can he write an _autobiography_?" Pietro snorted.

"Twenty-nine," Gambit corrected,

"He writes?" Pyro perked up. He laughed, "Oy got it now; arrogant writer with no friends meets the lively girl from-"

"Oh shut up!" Pietro snapped,

"Oy'm just saying!" Pyro replied indignantly.

"So is that frost-boy with him or something?" Pietro asked Gambit,

Gambit gave Pietro a funny look, "_Non_, why would you t'ink dat, _mon ami_?"

Pietro shrugged, "Well, he was-" Pietro stopped and grinned evilly, "Oh! Hah hah! Now I can blackmail him!" He stood up in a flash.

"Pietro…?" Gambit started, but the speedster had already disappeared.

Pyro, meanwhile, was giggling insanely.

Gambit turned to Pyro when he saw Rogue enter the room behind him. He stood up, "_Chere_!"

Rogue glared at him, "Ah don't want tah talk tah yah, swamp rat," she growled, walking right out of the kitchen again.

Gambit sighed and sat back down with a huff, "Dis could be de end for real," he told Pyro, "Rogue just not lovin' dis Cajun anymore."

[]

A/N: I'm just going to end that chapter right there. I have WB, and now I'm thinking about turning this back into a Jean Paul/Bobby pairing. Argh! [hits head:] I've been reading too much Minerva Solo. Gr… Anyway, it's all up to you people, really! Review and tell me what pairing you want!


	11. New Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men**

**A/N: Help… Writer's block! Oh, and review!**

**To ****PersephoneCorelli: ****you say that the pairing ought to be JP/Bobby, so I'll go for that! I like Gambit/Pyro in Evolution –Wolverine/Gambit only works for the movie, in my opinion (Maybe 'cuz Wolvie isn't that hairy in the movie? I don't care what people say. Hairy is gross, not sexy.) Thanks for the review!**

**To G.I Jean Paul: Thanks for the review! Yes, indeed! Here are the official pairings for this story (and I promise to stick with them): JP/Bobby and Gambit/Pyro. I'm thinking of mixing in a hint of Lietro, 'cuz Pietro needs some love, too! Also, cool name! It's like G.I Joe except with Jean Paul, right?**

Chapter XI

Pyro made himself at home in the mansion. He wandered through the classes and eventually sat down in Nightcrawler's Drama class.

Kurt didn't seem to mind; he even had Pyro help with one of the exercises.

Meanwhile, Pietro sat in the observation room over the Danger Room and watched kids race around and knock each other out with their inability to control their powers.

The door to the room slid open and Storm came in. She looked surprised to see Pietro sitting inside, but didn't say anything.

Soon, a few of the X Men walked into the room to start training.

The white-haired speedster watched with curiosity as the X Men fought the Danger Room. Of course Pietro knew that Xavier had built a room to train his X-Geeks in, but Pietro had only been there once when the X Men and the Brotherhood had teamed up to fight the Juggernaut… that had been almost ten years ago.

God, Pietro felt old.

Pietro observed the team's interactions. They seemed to work together –as if they knew what their team mates were thinking.

Frequently, someone –usually Jubilee or Bobby –would yell something and someone else would reply, grinning or rolling their eyes.

Pietro watched Gambit fight. Pyro talked about his ex-team mate all the time (Remy used to say this; Remy used to say that, Remy would say _this_ if he saw _that_…) and even though Pietro had spoken to the Cajun a few times back in the day, he had started believing what Pyro always said about Gambit.

Pyro probably wasn't sane enough to realise this –even though he _was_ a romance novelist –but he had a _thing_ for Gambit; something just beyond infatuation. Judging by the way Gambit acted at breakfast when he had first seen Pyro, he valued Pyro very deeply. Enough to put up with the Aussie's constant chatter, anyway.

[]

"Woo! What a session!" Bobby said happily as he met up with Rogue afterwards, when they had showered and freshened up.

"Yeah," Rogue said moodily, "It was,"

Bobby glanced at the southerner walking next to him, "Are you okay, Rogue? I mean, you and Gambit are fighting…" He made sure not to add 'again', for that would not make things any better.

Rogue sighed, "Yeah. It's just…" she tailed off and kicked the ground as she walked, "Ah feel so guilty!" she burst out finally.

"Guilty?" Bobby repeated in surprise, "what for?"

Rogue explained, "Ah want to break up with Remy for real, but Ah don't know how! Ah've been thinking about it for a while now. That's why we've been fightin' so much! Ah figured if he got sick of it and dumped _me_, then everythin' would be fine!"

Bobby was silent as he processed this new development, "Rogue," he said sternly as they entered the elevator, "I think you need to be straight forward with Gambit. Just tell him how you feel. Leading him on is not a good idea. He's mature –he'll understand."

Rogue looked at Bobby in astonishment, "That's really deep, Bobby. Ah'll do that. You're right; this is just mean of me."

After this, the conversation turned light and Rogue began acting more like herself.

As the elevator opened, they stepped out and Jean Paul stepped in.

Bobby gave a quick hello which Jean Paul returned distractedly.

"Poor Jean Paul –Ah feel sorry for him." Rogue said as the doors closed, "He's been sorta unofficially kicked off the active roster, don't ya think?"

"Well, it was only one mission," Bobby said, "Jubilee and some others stayed behind, too,"

"Yeah, but Jean Paul hasn't been at any of the joint Danger Room sessions. D'you think no one told him or he decided not to go?" Rogue challenged. She then said good-bye to Bobby stating, "Ah've got to go find Remy," she said, seeming to be bracing herself.

"Yeah, good luck," Bobby replied knowingly.

He walked down the hall by himself for a while until Jubilee suddenly appeared.

"Hey popsicle! I've been looking for you!" she said cheerfully falling into step next to him.

"What's up, Jubes?"

"Eh, nothin' much. Got any classes? I'm feeling like pranking someone today. Maybe Quicksilver and Pyro!" she wiggled her eyebrows,

"Yeah right! We'd either be a pile of ashes, beaten up in two seconds, or _both_ if we ever tried anything on them." Bobby exclaimed,

"Oh, we'll be sneaky. So –no classes?"

"None," Bobby confirmed with a grin.

[]

The Danger Room doors opened and Gambit's training session with a few of the New X Men was disrupted.

Josh, Julian, Noriko, Sooraya, Santo, Jay, and Cessily turned to see Pyro walk in.

Santo and Julian already had some idea of who Pyro was.

"You again?" Julian sneered.

"Quiet, _chile,_" Gambit said. He waved his old colleague over, "John, dese are de New X Men,"

"Meanin' you and I are old, mate?" Pyro cackled.

Gambit grimaced, "Kids, dis is Pyro –he's an old friend of Gambit's."

Cessily smiled widely, "Hi Pyro! I'm Cessily,"

"Huh. Can you burn?" Pyro wondered,

"Um… not easily, I think," Cessily replied uncertainly.

Pyro shrugged and turned to the other mutants. He caught sight of Julian and grinned, "Oi! You're the pretty boy from this morning!" He said cheerfully.

"Yeah, well," Julian said, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm Elixir," Josh chirped up.

Pyro looked at him and then looked at Gambit, "Y'know ya got a golden boy, Remy? He's covered in gold!" He grinned,

Cessily caught Santo's eye and whirled her finger around her ear and rolled her eyes –the universal sign for, "_Crazy_,"

Once Pyro had been decently introduced to the group, Gambit said, "So you jus' wanderin', _homme_? Wanna see what dese kids got?"

"Oi! A fight? I can take 'em all!" Pyro said excitedly.

Gambit turned to his trainees.

"Bring it!" Hellion said,

"Yeah, we can take the weirdo!" Santo said.

Gambit grinned, "Okay, but Gambit warnin' you kids; Pyro an ex-Acolyte –he an' Gambit used t'work for Magneto t'gedder," With that, he back leaned back against the wall of the Danger Room and said, "No killin' dem, Pyro!" He shouted happily, watching the students attack Pyro.

Hopefully this would give them the sense of teamwork they were supposed to be working on.

[]

Jean Paul walked into the Danger Room, but found that it was already occupied.

Odd. There weren't any classes booked for it… Then again, he noticed that Gambit was in the room, so he had probably brought a class into the Danger Room as a spur-of-the-moment-thing.

Then Jean Paul noticed that Elixir, Mercury, Rockslide, Icarus, Dust, Surge, and Hellion were fighting someone… flames were flying… Surge seemed to be nursing a small burn on her arm.

"Gambit!" Jean Paul shouted.

The action stopped at once.

Jean Paul glared at Gambit, "You cannot tell the children to fight _Pyro_," he said, ignoring the protests that went up among the students at the word, 'children'.

"Why not? Dey looked like dey were havin' fun," Gambit replied, gesturing to the New X Men.

Jean Paul glanced at the singed, sweaty, panting teenagers and raised an eyebrow.

"I have trouble believing that," He said, "Gambit, you are to train these children, not Pyro,"

"Well, den, he can stay an' watch," Gambit shrugged.

/Actually, I need Pyro in the Meeting Room. / Emma's voice suddenly penetrated the two X Men's minds.

Jean Paul took this as a chance to kick Pyro out of the Danger Room, yelling over his shoulder at Gambit in French not to try killing the children again as he left.

"Well den," Gambit sighed, turning to the exhausted teenagers, "Who wants t' try an' defeat de level seven sentinels?"

They all groaned.

"You call y'selves de New X Men!" Gambit scoffed.

[]

"What's she want with me?" Pyro asked as he followed Jean Paul down the hall.

Jean Paul did not reply,

"Haallooo?" The Aussie tried, waving his hand in front of Jean Paul's eyes.

He blinked and glanced over at the fire-mutant, "_Oui_?"

"What's Frost want with me?" Pyro repeated.

"She probably wants to discuss something before the meeting later on," Jean Paul said distractedly. He pressed the button for the elevator and tapped his feet impatiently.

Pyro shrugged; he wasn't as bad as Pietro.

The elevator doors opened and Jean Paul sped inside.

When they reached ground level, Jean Paul dragged Pyro up the stairs, and deposited him outside Emma's office before speeding away. Pyro wondered what jean Paul needed to do so badly.

/Maybe the man needs to relieve 'imself./ Pyro decided.

He opened the door to the office and walked in.

Emma Frost looked up, "you could knock, Pyro."

"You already knew Oy was coming," He shrugged and plopped down in the seat in front of her desk.

"All the same," Emma replied calmly. She went back to marking papers on her desk.

Pyro waited for a moment before saying, "So whadaya want with me?"

"I'd like to offer you a place with the X Men." Emma said nonchalantly.

Pyro stared, "Wait. What?"

"I'm asking you if you'd like to join the X Men, Pyro." Emma said, setting her papers aside and looking Pyro in the eyes.

[]

An hour later…

"I can't believe you talked me into that. I am going to be bruised forever!" Bobby moaned.

"Sorry," Jubilee groaned.

They sat on a couch in the Recreation Room, recovering from the consequences of pranking Pietro Maximoff.

"That guy does not know how to take a joke."

"Maybe he didn't think getting a glitter bombed was funny." Bobby suggested.

"Well at least he'll sparkle when he runs." Jubilee said. They laughed and then groaned.

"He did NOT need to hit us that hard." Bobby said.

Gambit walked by, whistling tunelessly. He spotted Bobby and Jubilee and smirked, "Pietro don' like glitter bombs?"

They moaned in response.

"You look happy," Jubilee changed the subject.

Gambit shrugged, "Guess Remy shouldn't… Rogue jus' broke up wit' him –said it was for real dis time –but, Remy feels free… uh, don' tell her dat."

"Sure, sure," Jubilee agreed, waving her hand dismissively, "Come sit with us! Tell us what happened…"

"Dere ain't much t' tell," Gambit shrugged,

"So no hard feelings?" Bobby asked,

"_Non_. Gambit still love Rogue… but he startin' t' realise dat de love is more… like brotherly affection." Gambit said, looking thoughtful.

"S' great you figured that out," Bobby said, sitting up and wincing, "Listen, have you seen Jean-Paul?"

"_Oui_, he be runnin' 'round like crazy earlier. Zippin' in an' out of all de rooms. Wouldn't say what for, dough."

"Oh," Bobby said. He stood up and stretched, "Ow…" he groaned.

"Why do you want t' know, Bobby?" Gambit called as Bobby made his way out of the room.

"What?" Bobby stopped, "Um… I just have to ask him something. Y'know… Um, a question." He left the room.

"Gee!" Jubilee called from the couch, "Who woulda thought –a question!"

[]

"Whadaya-runnin'-around-for?" Pietro asked as he fell into step next to Jean Paul.

"_Rien_. Burning off frustration, I guess." Jean Paul said.

"For what?" Pietro snorted.

"None of your business," Jean Paul replied. He looked over at Pietro, "You have glitter in your hair."

Pietro scowled, "Damn!" He swore, "I thought I got it all off!"

Jean Paul opened his mouth and a question started to form, but –

/X Men, please come to the meeting room./ Emma said to them.

[]

"Did you find Jean Paul?" Jubilee asked as Bobby took a seat next to her.

"No," He replied.

Jean Paul and Pietro arrived at the same time, seeming to be racing each other.

Bobby caught Jean Paul's eye and grinned, earning a warm smile in return. His heart leapt with joy.

The other X Men trickled in, and Scott began the meeting.

"As you know, Pietro and Pyro have stopped by for a visit," Scott said, "Long story short, the Marauders have Magneto, which means _Sinister_ has Magneto, and that is a _very_ bad thing."

"So what do you propose we do about it?" Storm spoke up,

"Pietro has his own reasons for finding Magneto, but we are helping him to make sure Sinister doesn't get his hands on a very powerful X-gene. Here's what's going to happen. We are going to take down the Marauders first. Then we ambush Sinister's lab and destroy any and all samples of his DNA. Then Pietro gets Magneto and we leave them on their way."

"Sounds like a nice plan, bub," Logan growled, "But how're it's easier said then done. Sinister doesn't die easy, we know that. And he'll be out fer Magneto again once he recovers from our attack –that is, sayin' we win this thing."

"Logan has a point," Emma said after a moment of silence. She turned to Pietro, "What do you say to all this?"

Pietro made a face, "First of all, I want you to use Cerebra again."

Emma raised her eyebrows.

"And who do ya need tah find now?" Rogue spoke first.

Pietro didn't snap back with a witty remark, "I need to find the Brotherhood."

[]

Bobby yawned as he strapped into his seat on the Blackbird.

"This is so weird. I can't believe we're going to pick up the Brotherhood guys." Jubilee muttered from next to him.

"Technically, they're, like, disbanded." Kitty said from the front of the front of the jet. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, "I just don't get why we have to, like, get up so early."

"Pietro wants to get them a soon as possible," Jubilee grumbled, sending a glare over to the white-haired mutant who sat up in the front of the jet.

After some more talk, Scott decided to send Kitty, Jubilee, and Bobby with Pyro and Pietro to retrieve Wanda Maximoff, Lance Alvers, Todd Tolansky, and Fred Dukes from their various locations around the country. Actually, Blob's mutant signature was not found, but everyone figured Todd would know where he was.

"I'm right fucking here," Pietro reminded them as Kitty turned on the engines of the Blackbird.

The ceiling of the hangar opened and the jet took off quickly.

"Okay, who're we finding first?" Kitty asked.

"Toad. He'll be the easiest to find." Pietro said immediately, "He's at the old boarding house."

Kitty set the jet's course for Bayville and said, "I thought you said he and Fred were working for Magneto,"

"Yeah, but he wouldn't drag _them_ around the country with him. He only called them when he needed them." Pietro said, rolling his eyes with the air of 'Duh'.

"Whenever old Mags left us, at the base, Remy, Piotr, and Oy played cards," Pyro chirped up, "But the tin man always left when Oy set his cards on fire," he frowned and shrugged.

"Piotr's made of steel, not tin," Kitty said,

Pyro shrugged, "Same difference, Kitty-Cat."

Jubilee turned to Bobby, "So, did you ask Jean Paul whatever you were going to?"

Bobby shook his head, "Um, well, after the meeting, everything was kinda busy, so I didn't have a chance and it wouldn't have been very good timing," He said uneasily.

"So what were you going to ask, then?" Jubilee asked,

"Stuff," Bobby shrugged. God! What was wrong with him! Jubilee was one of his best friends! He could tell her!

She has a big mouth, a voice in his head argued.

She can keep secrets if you ask seriously, another voice reasoned.

Bobby shook his head to get rid of both of them.

Honestly, he might as well have a mini-Bobby on each of his shoulders.

He leaned back and closed his eyes.

It wouldn't be a long flight to Bayville, but he had some sleep to catch up on, all the same. It was six in the morning, for crying out loud! He had woken up at four!

[]

Kitty landed the jet behind the old Brotherhood boarding house.

Todd was hopping out to see what was going on,

The ramp was let down and Pietro zipped out.

"Pietro!" Todd's eyes widened, "You're with the X-Geeks now? Aw c'mon yo, I thought we all said we would rather die!"

"Shut up, Toad," Pietro retorted, "And get in the jet. We're getting the Brotherhood. Where's Fred?"

Todd suddenly stopped hopping and sniffed, "He's dead, yo. Freddy's dead."

There was a silence.

"WHAT?" Pietro said after a moment.

"Magneto's base went up in flames, Pietro. Fred didn't make it out." Todd whispered. He gulped, "The doors were blocked and the window was too small. Freddy can't break metal."

"Blob is dead?" Kitty repeated in disbelief, "Because Magneto made his base out of metal and he couldn't _get out_?"

"That's what I said, yo." Todd replied, hopping past her and into the jet, "It's been three weeks, anyway." He said, changing the subject.

Bobby, Pyro and Jubilee were waiting inside the jet.

"So where's Blob?" Jubilee asked as Todd, Pietro, and Kitty returned.

Pietro strapped into his seat, "Dead." He glanced back, "Buckle up, Todd,"

The smelly mutant did so and asked, "So what next?"

"We're picking up Wanda," Pietro said shortly.

**A/N: Yes indeed! Hope y'all liked this chapter! I made it nice and long since there was a long time between updates! Reviews are appreciated, and I'm sorry to any Fred fans for killing him. He was just an extra character I didn't need. I mean, I don't really need Toad, either, but I couldn't kill them BOTH. That's just way too convenient. I'll try and update soon! Also, to anyone who's interested, these are a few of the character ages:**

**Gambit: 31**

**Lance: 30**

**Scott: 30**

**Jean Paul: 29**

**Pietro: 29**

**Wanda: 29**

**Pyro: 29**

**Kurt: 28**

**Todd: 28**

**Kitty: 27**

**Bobby: 25**

**Jubilee: 25**


	12. Wanda and Lance

**Disclaimer: Not mine, duh. That's why I'm right a FAN fiction. Actually, I do own the OC mentioned here –Garrett.**

**A/N: I would've put this on chapter 11, but then that chapter would NEVER have ended. Enjoy and review. **

Wanda Maximoff was proud to say she lived a relatively normal life these days. She had her temper and her powers perfectly under control (well she almost had her temper under control anyway. She almost had it…). She worked at a Gothic department store where she designed clothes and the music expert who worked the cash-register by day and played in the popular local rock band by night had asked her to lunch. He was way more interesting than her last boyfriend, Garrett.

Life was good.

And as it was, her twin brother Pietro seemed to sense these sorts of things, because he always managed to show up and ruin it all… No wonder he was walking into the store just then.

"Pietro!" Wanda said, slightly glad to see him nonetheless, "Where have you been?"

"Looking for dear old dad," He caught the darkening expression on Wanda's face, "Listen, some guys called the Marauders and Sinister have Magneto. I'm going to get him, wanna come?"

"Why should I?" Wanda shrugged,

"'Cuz you want revenge?" Pietro tried,

Wanda gave him a that's-not-funny look.

"Okay, fine. The X Men are helping me and Pyro with this. They just want to make sure the Sinister guy doesn't get his hands on father's DNA –apparently Sinister is some sort of evil scientist guy. I got them to help me pick up the guys. Fred's dead and Toad's waiting with the X Geeks who came with me on their fancy jet."

Wanda stared at her brother, "So you want to bring the Brotherhood back in business?" She said finally.

"Yeah, kinda…"

"You're getting Lance, too?" Wanda wondered.

Pietro scowled, "Yes,"

"I have a date today," Wanda said.

"Cancel,"

"But I really like him,"

"Cancel anyway. Tell him you got laryngitis or something."

"If I got laryngitis, I wouldn't be able to tell him that, dumb ass."

"So? Tell him you have cancer then."

"Don't joke about stuff like that."

"I'm not joking."

"How long is this going to take?"

"Dunno. A few days, maybe. We have to come up with a plan."

"You don't have a plan yet?" Wanda said incredulously.

"…."

"Great." Wanda sighed, "Well if you bring back the Brotherhood, I guess someone's going to have to make sure you guys don't run off a cliff or do anything stupid like that… Just a moment. Let me get my coat."

"Perfect! I knew you'd see it my way, Wanda!" Pietro beamed,

"Don't push it, Pietro." She growled in return.

[]

"Why couldn't we just pick Lance up from the Blackbird?" Jubilee complained as Kitty drove down the street.

"'Cuz Lance would freak out if a hulking black jet dropped out of the sky to pick him up." Pietro rolled his eyes.

Kitty frowned and looked over at him, "Lance isn't primitive or anything, Pietro. He isn't, like, as stupid as you make him sound."

Pietro snorted and said, "Just keep your eyes on the road, pretty-Kitty. From what I've heard of your driving skills, I'm glad the car is still in one piece."

"I was sixteen!" Kitty cried.

"Well, you haven't really changed all that much! You're still all, "Totally, like, Omigawd!'"

"Like no I'm not!" Kitty defended herself,

"I rest my case." Pietro smirked.

Kitty scowled and looked at the road.

"Turn left here." Pietro said suddenly.

She branched off the main road as instructed and drove into the parking lot of an auto-repair shop.

Pietro, Jubilee, and Kitty got out of the car and Pietro sped ahead. He went right into the garage, "Guess who's here, Alvers!" He sang,

There was a metallic clang and then a crash and someone swore.

XXXXX

"He's not cooperating," Pietro said in annoyance as he zipped outside where Jubilee and Kitty were waiting, "You're going to need to use your kitten eyes on him."

Kitty was nervous at the prospect of seeing her first and ex boyfriend after all these years, but she followed Pietro into the garage.

"Um, Lance?" She called out hesitantly as she peered around the room filled with tools and auto parts.

There was a metallic clang and then a crash and someone swore.

"He's still clumsy." Pietro rolled his eyes.

"Kitty?" Lance Alvers walked around the side of a car waiting for repairs.

He was as tan as he had been in high school, but had developed nice, muscular arms.

Kitty was surprised to see his hair cropped short. Silly of her to think Lance would keep that ridiculous mullet forever, though…

"Hey, Lance," She grinned uncertainly, "Like, what's up?"

Lance stared at her and then blinked, clearing his throat, "Well, um, I know why you're here. And um, I, um… I'm not coming,"

"But we'd like you to come to the mansion," Kitty said, lying a bit. Only Pietro wanted Lance at the mansion, and that was so the Brotherhood would be together again.

Lance stared at Kitty with a distant expression. He blinked and said, "I'll come because you want me to. But after whatever's going on is over, I'm leaving."

Pietro muttered something under his breath and said, "Then-what-are-you-slow-pokes-waiting-for? Christmas?" He zoomed out of the garage, leaving Lance and Kitty in it a lone.

"It's good to see you again, Kitty," Lance said after a moment.

"Yup. Um, I mean, good to see you too, Lance," Kitty replied, bobbing her head. She turned around and hurried after Jubilee.

[]

"Un-fucking-believable," Bobby muttered, trudging off the Blackbird, "That took five hours! I have neck cramps! Remind me why we were sent along?"

"'Just in case'. And to make sure Pyro didn't blow up the engines." Jubilee added on after thought.

"Right," Bobby said, massaging his neck.

Scott was waiting in the hangar.

"Alvers, Tolansky," He greeted them stiffly, "Wanda,"

"Summers," Lance retorted,

"Drake!" Bobby chimed as he walked out of the hangar.

He left the Brotherhood and Scott to catch up on old times and walked through the mansion to his room, where he changed out of his uniform.

Walking down the stairs, he bumped into Jean Paul. He grinned immediately, "Hey JP,"

"Don't call me that," Jean Paul said automatically, smiling as well. "So, the Brotherhood is here?" He said,

"Watch out –they're crazy," Bobby nodded,

"If any of them are worse than Pyro, then maybe I'll listen." Jean Paul said, rolling his eyes.

Bobby stared at Jean Paul for a moment. _Now's your chance, Drake_, he coached himself_, Jean Paul's in a good mood._

"So, um, Jean Paul, I was wondering…"

"Yes? He looked at Bobby expectantly.

"Um, was wondering if… if you … you-"

"Woohoo!" Bobby was interrupted as Pyro suddenly ran by, his trench coat flapping around behind him.

Jean Paul scowled as he and Bobby watched Pyro run by waving his lighter around. He turned back to Bobby, "What was that you wanted to know?"

"Um… I was wondering if you would, um, if you would-"

"Toad!"

They interrupted once more as Todd hopped by, closely followed by Wanda, who was getting ready to hex him.

"Those people are the Brotherhood?" Jean Paul asked, staring after them.

"Um, yeah, two of them, anyway. The one that reeks is Toad –um, Todd Tolansky, and the Goth is Wanda Maximoff, Pietro's twin."

"He has a twin as well?" Jean Paul said, raising his eyebrows, "Do they get along?"

"Well," Bobby said, "Wanda has tried multiple times to kill her brother in the past, but they seemed fine on the way here in the jet…"

"Fine?" Pietro appeared out of no where, "Are you kidding? She's acting like I dragged her ass out of that Gothic store she works at. Yeah right! She agreed and came willingly." He rolled his eyes and continued, "While I'm still here, I just wanna warn you two to stay away from Alvers. He'll be all 'Kitty this' and 'Kitty that'. It's so pathetic," He made a noise of disgust and zoomed away.

Jean Paul turned to Bobby again, "There was something you wanted to ask…?"

"Never mind," Bobby said quickly, "It can wait." Inside, he was screaming, _No it can't! I need to ask you, RIGHT NOW! _He smiled warmly, "Really, it's fine."

Jean Paul smiled also, "I'll remind you to ask me another time then, _oui_?"

"Uh huh," Bobby said weakly. He had finally gotten to courage to ask and then what? The Brotherhood came in and ruined everything!

**A/N: Just gonna bring this chapter to an end, now. I bet most of you are guessing what Bobby wanted to ask, hm? Well review and tell me what you've come up with! Sorry for the short chapter.**


	13. Secret Mission

**Disclaimer: Don't own de X Men**

**A/N: I'm so lazy… it's been so long since I last updated… and this is a very short chapter, too! Sorry darlings! Hope you'll still review…? Not much of the Brotherhood in here –will be developing Bobby/Jean Paul, if you know what I mean. [wiggles eyebrows]**

"So, did you ask Jean Paul?" Jubilee wondered.

Bobby scowled, "No, the Brotherhood kept interrupting."

"Ah well. You'll get your question asked eventually, right?"

"Mm-hm." Bobby said moodily, changing the channel on the TV.

"So… Mind revealing what it is that you need to ask so badly?" Jubilee asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I'm not telling you." Bobby replied firmly, flipping the channels at a faster rate.

"Fine," Jubilee huffed, "So anyway, that Lance guy is kind of cute with short hair."

"He's after Kitty," Bobby replied.

"Hey, just 'cuz YOU'RE in a bad mood, doesn't mean you can drag me down, too!" Jubilee said.

"Sorry. I'm just telling the truth," Bobby said.

"The truth is stupid. I'm trying to get a boyfriend here! In case you haven't NOTICED, Bobster, I don't HAVE one," Jubilee said.

"Boyfriends? Who needs _boys_?"

Jubilee and Bobby looked up to see Jean Paul walk into the Recreation Room, looking more annoyed than usual.

"I do!" Jubilee cried indignantly, "I haven't had a real date since that time with Ray!"

"Wow," Bobby commented, his eyes glazing over momentarily as he thought back to those days, "I didn't realize that. I mean, I always thought my love life was pathetic, but now that-"

"If you even try and finish that sentence, I will _paf_ you into oblivion." Jubilee warned.

Jean Paul snorted in amusement as he sat on the couch.

"So, what's up with you, JP? Brotherhood getting on your nerves?" she said, turning to him.

"How did you know?" Jean Paul said dryly.

"Wild guess?" She grinned, "It was either that, or you just felt like dropping by and joining us in our suck-ish moods."

Jean Paul rolled his eyes.

"Oh look," Someone suddenly said from the doorway, "It's the Lonely Hearts Club, sitting around and moaning about your lack of love lives." Pietro zoomed by and disappeared, laughing, "Can you get more pathetic?"

"God, I hate him!" Jubilee growled, shooting a glare towards the doorway.

"He has a point," Jean Paul said, moodily, "We are pathetic."

"Let's go out!" Jubilee said suddenly, "Tonight!"

"Jubes, normally, I'd agree, but we're kind of dealing with something big –cough, Sinister and Magneto, cough, cough –so I think Scott would chew our heads off if we went into town for a night." Bobby said.

Jubilee shot him a glare, "Kill joy," She accused. Then she crossed her arms, "Well I don't care! I am. Going. Out." She said.

Jean Paul raised an eyebrow, "Well, have fun," He encouraged sarcastically, standing up.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Jubilee called.

"Grading papers," Jean Paul said, speeding off.

"He's always grading papers," Jubilee realized, sitting back down, "Bobby, has Jean Paul ever really gone out?"

Bobby thought, "Well, I think there was that one time a few years ago, when he first got here… Kurt and Logan dragged him off and I think they got attacked by a rogue sentinel." He said.

Jubilee grinned, "You should take him out!" She said,

"W-why should I take him out?" Bobby stammered, blushing pink.

Fortunately, the chatty pyrotechnic didn't notice, "I would do it, but I think Jean Paul would just get annoyed after a while. Plus, you're getting along real well these days!"

"Oh," Bobby said. Again, Jubilee didn't notice the relief in his voice or the fact that he relaxed his tensed posture, "Well I guess so. Maybe in a day or two. Y'know, when the Brotherhood pass by."

"No, sooner! Screw the Brotherhood! They can't come stomping in and ruining everything for everyone!" Jubilee said passionately, "Force him out for coffee!"

"Force?" Bobby repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, duh, ice cube, he's obviously gonna be like, '_Non_, I have papers to grade', _therefore_ you must force him."

"How would I do that?" Bobby said, raising his eyebrows,

"He'll agree eventually," Jubilee said, "I mean, he'll agree if it's you,"

Bobby's heart suddenly sped up, "What's that supposed to mean?" He said.

"Nothing. Just a theory I have," Jubilee said smoothly,

"What theory?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Jubilee grinned, popping to her feet, "Well, gotta go –Danger Room session with the X-munchkins in ten minutes!"

"Jubes-"But she already ran off.

Bobby blinked and took several deep breaths, "Okay, Bobby, no big deal… so, Jubilee might've been hinting that… no. Not possible." But Bobby hoped.

[]

Eventually, arrangements for where the Brotherhood would room were made.

Pietro was already sharing a room with Pyro, and Rogue agreed to room with Wanda, her fellow Goth. Lance and Todd were then appointed a room together.

With all of these unfamiliar face roaming around the mansion, the kids were definitely getting curious. Most of them already knew who Pyro and Pietro were, but the three newcomers were nameless to them.

The students knew the Brotherhood as:

Pietro –"Quicksilver, The Really Arrogant Fast Guy With The White Hair", Pyro –"That Crazy Guy Who Knows Gambit And Likes To Burn Stuff", Wanda, "That Scary Gothic Lady Who You Should Run Away From If She Points Her Fingers", Lance –"That Tan Guy Who Has A Total Crush On Miss Pryde", and Todd - "That Slimy Guy Who Smells Bad".

So while various rumors of the Brotherhood were being constructed and spread, the X Men and the Brotherhood gathered in the Meeting Room to make a plan. It was the day after the Brotherhood had arrived.

"So we know that Magneto is with the Marauders, and therefore Sinister." Scott said, "Our objective… is to find out why Magneto is with Sinister. We'll proceed from there once we get some intel. Kitty, Bobby, and Remy –I'm sending you to poke around the area for at least a week."

Bobby, Gambit, and Kitty nodded.

"When will we be leaving?" Kitty asked.

"This evening." Scott said, "Stay after the meeting and I'll fill you in."

He then went on to tell the rest of the X Men and the Brotherhood what the future plans would be, based on the possible outcomes.

Eventually, everyone left the room.

Bobby, Gambit, and Kitty stayed behind to be briefed.

When they finally left (honestly, Scott's briefings were never brief…), Jubilee was waiting for Bobby outside.

"Dude! You get to go undercover!" She exclaimed as she walked with him down the hall.

"It's not like we've never gone on missions before," Bobby said.

"Yeah, but undercover! And with only three people! Kitty and Gambit go on secret missions all the time!" Jubilee insisted enthusiastically.

"Maybe Scott wanted people who didn't stand out."

"You stand out to _some_ people," Jubilee grinned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bobby stopped in his tracks.

"_Nuthin'_." Jubilee grinned even wider, "Just a theory I have."

"Do tell," Bobby said, his eyes narrowing.

Jubilee shook her head happily and pretended to lock her lips, "Can't say. So, I guess this means you can't drag Jean Paul out of from under his rock any day soon, then, huh?"

"Guess not," Bobby said, looking thoughtful as they started walking again.

"Do you think it'll be dangerous?" Jubilee asked about the mission,

"If Sinister realizes we're poking around, it will be." Bobby answered grimly.

XXXXX

"Has anyone seen Bobby?" Kitty wondered, walking into the Recreation Room through the wall.

The current New X Men shook their heads.

Kitty walked through the next wall and into the hall. "Hey Lance," She said, stopping him, "Have you seen Bobby?"

"No. Don't you have a mission?"

"Yeah, we have to get going soon and I can't find him," Kitty replied, throwing her hands up,

"He-just-left-his-room-ten-seconds-ago," Pietro said, appearing suddenly.

"Oh! Thanks!" Kitty said, running off.

Lance and Pietro stared at each other frostily as she left. Tension ran high in the air.

"Shut up," Lance said as Pietro started to open his mouth.

Pietro crossed his arms, "Wasn't-gonna-say-anything." He retorted, disappearing once more.

Lance swore under his breath.

XXXXX

Bobby popped by the Jubilee's room to tell her good bye.

As he reached the garage, someone ran up to him.

"Bobby!" Jean Paul said, coming to a stop next to him, "Leaving without a good bye?"

"Oops." He said.

"_Oui_," Jean Paul agreed.

Bobby grinned, "I didn't know you were expecting a good bye."

Jean Paul blinked, "So you don't say good bye to your friends?"

Now it was Bobby's turn to blink and stare, "Er…"

"So how long will you be expecting to be gone?" Jean Paul asked, changing the subject, "I know Summers said _at least_ a week,"

"He wants us back before a month. We have to send a report back here every other week. So if we're undercover for a month… you'll hear from us twice."

"_Mon dieu_," Jean Paul said, "That's a long time. Be careful, Bobby,"

Bobby smiled, "I'll try to return in one piece."

"I'm serious," Jean Paul said, his brow furrowing in concern.

"So am I," Bobby assured the other man.

Kitty approached them, "Omigod, Bobby, do you know _how_ long I was looking for you?"

He turned to her, "Sorry,"

She rolled her eyes and started walking through door to the garage, "Come on,"

Bobby stared at the wall where Kitty had just disappeared through and turned back to Jean Pau.

"Well, good bye, I suppose," Jean Paul said.

Suddenly Bobby panicked. What if the mission went wrong? What if their cover was blown? He gulped. What if he never saw anyone from the mansion ever again? _What if he never saw Jean Paul_?

It was funny how things happened.

Less than a week ago, Bobby avoided Jean Paul at all costs, trying to hide his sexuality.

Now he found he wasn't really afraid. He had just accepted it –it was who he was.

And to add to that, he was now good friends with Jean Paul. He had –Bobby gulped again –he had fallen for Jean Paul. Really really hard, he might add.

"Yeah, listen, Jean Paul," He said, "I-If I get back –_When_ I get back, do you maybe want to –to go out sometime?" He felt he had to clarify, "Like on a date?"

Jean Paul stared. Jean Paul blinked. Jean Paul raised an eyebrows, "Excuse me?"

Bobby's heart dropped into his stomach, "Would you like to go on a date with me –when I get back?" he asked.

"You're asking me on a date?" Jean Paul said slowly.

"Yeah, well, it was a stupid idea anyway-" Bobby started to ramble.

"_Oui_," Jean Paul interrupted, "I'll go out with you Bobby." He smiled and Bobby wished he would do it more often because it was the most beautiful smile he ever saw.

He grinned back, "Great. Thank you." He managed to say.

"Now _really_ try to make it back in one piece, will you?" Jean Paul said.

"Okay," Bobby said cheerfully, "I'd better go –Kitty can be a real pain when she gets impatient."

"Good bye," Jean Paul said.

"Yeah. Bye." Bobby replied.

Jean Paul leaned in and lightly pressed his lips to Bobby's.

Bobby closed his eyes and smiled at Jean Paul when he stepped back again, "I have a question." He said.

Jean Paul raised an eyebrow, "Go ahead."

"Can I hug you?"

Jean Paul grinned.

Bobby loved it.


	14. Rumors and New Classes

**Disclaimer: I'm a poor person.**

**A/N: So. Betcha liked the last chapter. I know. 20 thousand some hundred words and 13 chapters into the story and we FINALLY get some Jean Paul/Bobby action. And then Bobby goes off to another city. I'm a horrible person. Anyway, review! This is where things get messy. And maybe I'll sprinkle in some extra angst in the next chapter! Anyway, this chapter introduces Ben Hammil AKA Match. He's from the Paragons, a squad that was basically never made important in the comics. Y'know what's funny? There's a guy named Ben Hammil in my class!**

"You're happy," Jubilee noted as she sat down next to Jean Paul.

"It'll wear off in a few hours," he assured her.

"Seems quiet around here," She said, looking around the staff room.

"That is most likely due to the fact that Pyro is not here, yapping away at Gambit," Jean Paul said.

"Huh." Jubilee said, "Y'know, I think that dude's obsessed with Gumbo. Anyway, what's got you so happy?"

Jean Paul gave her a sideways glance, "I have a date, that's all."

"Ooh! Who with? Someone I know? Must be, 'cuz you never leave the mansion –or do you do online dating? I never really figured you for the type, but I guess being an X Men and grading papers does take all of your time, huh?"

He gave her a look that told her he did not appreciate his sarcasm.

Jubilee smiled innocently in return.

They were suddenly alerted by a commotion nearby.

Pietro had appeared, dragging Lance and Pyro into the room with him, "Jesus-Christ-quit-moping-you-lovesick-morons," He was snapping at them, "It hasn't even been an hour since they left!"

"Oy ain't lovesick!" Pyro protested as Lance said, "I'm not moping!"

Pietro rolled his eyes and disappeared for a fraction of a second before reappearing and shoving plates of food into their hands.

"Go-sit-down-eat-your-food-and-do-something-other-than-feel-sorry-for-yourselves." He commanded.

As the Brotherhood sat down at a table across the room, Jubilee turned back to Jean Paul, "Lovesick?" She grinned raising her eyebrows, "Ya think so, JP?"

Jean Paul glanced over at them, "Perhaps. They are definitely moping."

"Let's see. Avalanche is sulking 'cuz Kitty left…" Jubilee looked thoughtful as she held up one finger, "And Pyro is moping 'cuz Gumbo's gone," she held up a second finger.

Seeing Jean Paul's dubious look, Jubilee said, "What! Pyro _so_ has a thing for Gambit! I mean, he wears one of his old trench coats for Pete's sake!"

"Are you saying that-?" Jean Paul raised an eyebrow.

"Yup. I mean, they used to live in the same base, they were, like, best friends, Gambit actually puts up with Pyro, in his books, Pyro bases most of his male characters off Remy… Well, you get the point. All evidence leads me to the conclusion that Gambit and Pyro totally have something going on."

Jean Paul made a face, "Please, Jubilee, go spread your rumors to somebody else!"

She grinned, "Oh, definitely!"

And so, the rumors were spread. As everyone knows, of course, the word gets more and more twisted the more it goes around. By the next afternoon, many of the students were under the impression that Pyro was some sort of boyfriend-stealing sex crazed lunatic.

Crazed lunatic maybe, but not boy-friend stealing sex.

God, that sounded wrong.

Meanwhile, though, Scott saw fit to give the Brotherhood teaching positions. They might as well do something useful, after all.

Pyro was to teach three English Lit classes, Pietro was teaching a small group of students with powers relating to speed, Wanda was teaching –ironically –anger management, Lance was stuck with Bobby's Accountancy class, and Toad was left with substituting for Kitty's small Computer programming class.

[]

Pyro sat at his new teacher's desk with his feet on top of it when his first class came in.

A few of the students glared at him as they went to their seats, while others avoided his eye at all costs. Not that he was actually watching them, anyway…

When the students were seated, Pyro continued to sit, twirling a ball of flames in his palm.

Suddenly the flames soared out of his hand. He looked up and frowned.

"Are you gonna teach or what?" one of the students said.

Pyro's eyes lit up and he took a good look at him.

The boy had a flaming head, for Christ's sake!

"Pyrokinetic? What's yer name?" Pyro grinned. The fire soared out of the boy's hand and back into his.

"Ben," the boy said.

Pyro sighed, "Oy meant yer other name."

"Match." The boy said.

Pyro laughed, "That's real cute, mate," He said.

Match scowled.

The older pyrokinetic took no notice of it. He stood up and walked around the desk, "Roight. So. My name's Pyro and Oy'm yer new English teacher. Anyone got a problem with that?"

[]

THE OFFICIAL LIST OF RUMORS IN REGARD TO THE BROTHERHOD CIRCULATING THE INSTITUTE (courtesy of the Stepford Cuckoos)

1. Pyro is gay.

2. Quicksilver is bi.

3. Avalanche is bi.

4. Avalanche and Miss Pryde used to be high school sweethearts.

5. Pyro had a really hot affair with Mr. Lebeau and then stole him from Miss Rogue.

6. The Scarlet Witch can kill you with a single look if she wants to.

7. Toad killed the Blob.

8. The Blob isn't dead.

9. The Brotherhood is staying for good.

10. Avalanche and Quicksilver have something going on.

[]

Anger-management.

What a joke.

That Frost-lady was the one who had suggested it.

God, if Wanda had known how many people in the mansion need anger management…

"Is this everybody?" She asked.

The group of students sitting around her grumbled a 'yeah' or 'mmhm'.

"Okay. My name is Wanda Maximoff." She said, "I'm your teacher. Let's start with you telling me who you are."

The students who had turned up were three boys: Hellion, Elixir and Wither, and two girls: X-23 and Surge.

"And why has your head of the school decided to put you in this class?" Wanda said.

"To control our anger," Laura (AKA X23) said.

"Yes. Do you guys think you have anger management issues?"

"No," They all deadpanned.

Wanda sighed, "Well what gets you really riled up?"

"I don't even need to be here," Julian (AKA Hellion) said, "Only Surge does. I mean, X needs management, period, and Kevin just needs anti-depressants."

"You can stuff it, Keller!" Noriko (AKA Surge) retorted immediately.

Wanda scowled as the four students burst into an argument.

[]

Pyro opened the door to the office and stepped in.

"You could have knocked."

"You knew Oy was coming." Pyro replied.

Emma set down her pen and folded her hands on the desk, "Have you reached a decision, Pyro?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

"To my question, or to my proposition?"

Pyro crossed his arms, "Oy'll join the X Men."

Emma smiled, "Lovely."

[]

**A/N: Yeah, this chapter was just some light stuff. Mainly the Brotherhood settling in a little. And that last part –the proposition? Reread chapter 11 if you don't remember it. I sure as hell did. And then I reread this story and I was all like, "OHHH. *Now* I remember." Anyway, please review! Sorry about the shortness!**


	15. Thinking About Him

**Disclaimer: Like I own anything. **

**A/N: Hm… it's been a while since I've updated –sorry about that. I'm currently writing three fics at once (against my better judgment, of course). Onward!**

Bobby blinked groggily, "Whasatime?" He groaned.

"It's seven AM, Iceman! Rise and shine!" Kitty said, yanking the blankets off from over him.

Grumbling, Bobby sat up and looked around blearily. As he blinked away his sleepiness, Bobby remembered Gambit had driven them into New York City at midnight. They should have gotten to the city two hours earlier, but… well, Kitty had the map upside down, and the GPS was broken.

"Who can we possibly have to do at SEVEN AM?" Bobby said,

"Uh, like eat breakfast, duh," Kitty rolled her eyes,

"I don't wanna eat breakfast," Bobby muttered, putting his face in his pillow.

"But I do, and I totally cannot concentrate on my Cheerios with you snoring on the couch in front of me."

"Then sit on the other side of the table," Bobby mumbled.

Going undercover with two other people had its downsides. One of them was the living space.

The three had rented a three room apartment, and Kitty, being the only female, got a room to herself, while Gambit and Bobby were stuck on the two living room sofas. The kitchen happened to be connected to the living room.

Kitty sighed, "You asked for it, popsicle," She said, reaching her hand out.

Bobby jumped up as he felt Kitty phase through him. He glared at her, "Never does that again!" He said.

Kitty shrugged and grinned innocently. She turned and chirped, "_Hello_ gorgeous!"

Gambit finished putting on his shirt and grinned, "De ice cube finally woke up?" he said as he walked over to the kitchen table.

"Finally?" Bobby said indignantly, "It's still night time! Who the hell wakes up this early?"

Kitty opened her mouth and he sighed, "Never mind,"

Later, when everyone had showered and eaten breakfast, Gambit headed out of the apartment to locate the area Magneto's mutant signature had picked up on Cerebra.

He returned two hours later, "It's an abandoned building jus' outside o' de city." He reported, "I didn' go inside, but it don' look like anyone's livin' dere."

"Sinister's lab is probably underground," Kitty nodded, "And the Marauders would definitely be careful about coming and going, so maybe that's why."

"Or maybe they aren't staying there," Bobby said, "Emma picked up Magneto's signature there three days ago. He could've moved."

"We should still check the place out," Kitty said,

"We should contact de mansion f' new coordinates," Gambit said.

"Don't you think Emma would've updated us if the Magneto had moved before we left?" Kitty said.

She had a point.

Eventually it was decided that Kitty would snoop around the abandoned building, while Gambit and Bobby searched through security camera footage from the streets nearby.

Kitty hacked into the systems within twenty minutes, and then left the apartment.

At first, Bobby thought watching the footage would be interesting, but it turned out to be a rather boring job.

He and Gambit watched hours and hour of footage and came up with nothing.

Bobby sighed as he and Gambit watched an elderly lady cross the street at a record-slow rate. He wondered what Jean Paul was doing at the moment…

[]

Jean Paul pinched the bridge of his nose, "What the hell is going on out there?" He muttered.

He had been in the midst of teaching his third hour class when he had noticed the students were paying less attention than usual.

As it turned out, the object or ob_jects_ of their attention was Wanda Maximoff's anger-management class. They were screaming and throwing snowballs at each other, evidently letting out their anger.

Jean Paul groaned as a snowball splattered against the window, "Alright! Fine! Class dismissed!" He glared at the class, "Go" –he waved his hand toward the window, "-play…"

The class cheered and the room was empty within seconds.

Jean Paul rolled his eyes and sat down at his desk, shaking his head.

Kids these days…

Then he cringed. Oh he sounded so old…

Gazing out the window at all of the snow, Jean Paul wondered what Bobby was doing at the moment…

Perhaps he was partaking in something dangerous, or maybe casually snooping around in New York.

Jean Paul wondered if Bobby was annoying Gambit or Kitty…

"Daydreaming about _Iceman_?"

Jean Paul's head snapped up and his sharp blue eyes met a pair of pale blue ones.

Pietro smirked and put his hands on his hips.

Jean Paul was vaguely reminded of Peter Pan.

He scowled, "Excuse me?"

"Oh please," Pietro rolled his eyes, "Anyone with half a brain would've noticed you ogling him."

"And anyone with a quarter of a brain would've noticed you pining after Avalanche," Jean Paul retorted. It was true –Jean Paul could tell these sort of things.

It was Pietro's turn to scowl, "Alvers? Yeah right."

"It is," Jean Paul shrugged, standing up, "Now, is there anything in particular you came for?"

Quicksilver tilted his head, "I had a question."

"_Oui_? Question then,"

Pietro opened his mouth to speak but suddenly Emma's voice echoed in his head, /Pietro, can I see you in my office? Immediately./

Looking annoyed, Pietro said, "Later –the boss lady needs to see me," and zoomed away.

Jean Paul scowled at the door, "_Hello, oui, I'd like to ask you a question. Oh wait, non, the boss lady needs to see me. _Christ," he muttered, sitting down again.

[]

"Look at dat,"

Bobby gave a start and he looked around –he had begun to doze off.

Gambit paused the screen and pointed at an old man sitting on a bench of an empty street.

"Oh, wow," Bobby said sarcastically, "Whadabout him?"

"he's been comin' every two hours an' stayin' f' twenty minutes t' read a newspaper for the last six hours," Gambit explained.

Bobby sat forward, "So this thing's been looping the same footage for the last six hours?" He groaned.

"_Oui_," Gambit said, "Somet'in' like dat,"

Bobby made a face, "So…"

"We wait f' Kitty t' come back," Gambit said.

"Shouldn't she have gotten back by now?"

"Sneakin' 'round takes time sometimes," Gambit said.

And so they waited.

Kitty finally returned when it was nearly four o'clock. She brought Chinese takeout with her.

"Oh great! I'm starved!" Bobby said, reaching for the bag. He and Gambit had been surviving off Cheerios and milk.

Kitty reported her findings: Nothing. Not even fifty feet underground.

As they ate, Gambit explained to Kitty the looped footage.

"Emma said the location didn't change, but I can't find anyone." Kitty shook her head in puzzlement.

"Maybe someone's messing with our minds?" Bobby suggested.

"Dat's possible," Gambit said, "But den why wouldn't dey jus' kill us?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than the door crashed open, "Maybe because we're supposed to catch you alive!" A woman with green hair shouted.

Gambit reached began to charge his chopsticks and Bobby started to ice up when the Marauder known as Vertigo smiled cruelly, and all three of the X Men were sent unconscious.

**A/N: I know –bad, bad ending that was really rushed. Sue me. I don't care. Please review, though!**


	16. MIA

**Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize belongs to The Man. Damn The Man.**

**A/N: I have the word 'Iron' spelled out across my knuckles, one letter per finger. 'Cuz it's funny. It's 'Iron Fist', geddit? Like Iron Fist from 'Power Man and Iron Fist'. Yeah, yeah, I know, no one really remembers PM and IF anymore… Anyway, sorry about the late update… The woes of writing three fics at once… Well, Here's the new chapter! **

Bobby's eyes snapped open and for a moment he wondered if he really had opened them. His surroundings were completely dark. Bobby started to sit up and promptly hit his face against the ceiling. He tried to move his arms but there was no room. Panicking, Bobby attempted to freeze something, but found that he couldn't.

It suddenly occurred to him that he was locked in a coffin.

**[]**

Havok drummed his fingers along the control panel as he waited. The digital clock overhead ticked to the next minute.

Six o'clock PM came and went. Alex frowned. He checked the message board to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with it.

Six-O-Seven came and went.

Six-twenty came and went.

At Six-forty-five, exactly forty-five minutes after Alex was supposed to have received contact from either Gambit, Kitty, or Iceman, he began to worry. /Emma,/ he called out telepathically, /The under-cover team hasn't reported yet./

/Is the message board jammed again?/ she responded lazily,

/No; I already checked./

/… I'll be there in a moment,/

A few minutes later, as promised, Emma Frost entered the Control Room, Scott right behind her.

Havok stood and allowed them access to the panel.

"Damn it, it's only been a week; what could've happened?" Scott growled.

"I'll try and find them on Cerebra," Emma announced, hurrying out of the room.

[]

"So, what did the team find out?" Storm inquired as the X Men were seated.

"Yeah, are we going or what?" Pietro said, crossing his legs and propping his feet on the table.

Jean Paul nodded, "When are they coming back?"

"It must be something big; we were all called here," Jubilee mused.

The rest of the X Men and the Brotherhood seated at the tale burst into conversation.

"Quiet!"

Everyone looked at Scott. He brushed the hand that he had slammed against the table against his uniform. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Okay, listen, I know this is going to… shock you all…"

The room fell quiet.

"What happened?" Storm quietly.

"As of now, Gambit, Kitty, and Bobby are M.I.A,"

The silence that had fallen over the room was almost tangible, until—

"WHAT?"

"It's only been a week!"

"How can they be M.I.A?"

"Missing in action?"

"WHAT?"

Scott attempted to quiet the room, but they were all in outrage.

"Explain!" Storm demanded.

Almost everyone in the room was standing up.

Scott ran a hand through his hair, "Someone was supposed to contact us at six o'clock… that was two hours ago, so we can only…" He heaved a sigh and looked around at everyone, "…assume that something has happened to keep them."

"And what … is the worst we can assume, hm?"

The X Men's attention was directed to where Jean Paul was still seated. He looked up, "Did anyone bother to locate them using Cerebra?"

Emma looked down, her usual composure cracking quickly as her colleagues turned to stare at her, "I wasn't able to find them." She swallowed.

"So they're dead," Jean Paul said hollowly.

Jubilee swallowed and took deep breaths, "No, no, no. They can't be,"

"They're dead," Lance echoed Jean Paul, "Kitty's dead. Kitty's dead?" His brow furrowed, as if it didn't make any sense, "She's dead?" he turned to look at Todd.

He gave him a 'what-are-you-looking-at-me-for?' look in return.

"You sent them out there without knowing fully well what they were up against." Piotr accused quietly.

"It was a suicide mission from the start, huh?" Rogue spoke up, her nails digging into the table from where she leaned over it.

"It wasn't supposed to be dangerous," Scott said,

"But it _was_," Polaris frowned.

Rogue glared at Pietro, "This is partly _your_ fault. If ya hadn't shown up, none of this woulda happened! Our team mates wouldn't be dead!"

"Hey! Maybe they aren't dead! Maybe they got Cured and that's why they didn't show up on the mutant-detector!" He snapped, at his feet in a snap with his hands on his hips, "And might I remind you that you X-Men _agreed_ to help in the first place?"

"No, _Scott and Emma_ agreed tah help ya." Rogue replied.

"Wait, yo," Todd said suddenly, "Quicksilver has a point; what if they just got cured?"

"Kitty and I destroyed the Cure on a mission four months ago," Storm said.

"Well Scott," Logan growled, "Ya got anythin' else to say?"

Scott Summers looked down.

"Then I'm outta here. Ya better start preparin' a funeral."

[]

Everyone filed out silently, some casting glares at Scott as they went.

Once outside, Jubilee's eyes filled with tears and she broke into sobs and Logan had to comfort her.

Almost everyone was in shock. Gambit, Bobby, and Kitty were favorites among the X Men and it wouldn't be the same without Bobby's pranks, or Kitty's Valley Girl chatter, or Gambit's charm and flirting.

There was a mass funeral held two weeks later and very little was explained to the students except that their teachers had been compromised and killed on a mission.

Wolverine and a few other tough X Men had gone searching for Gambit, Bobby, and Kitty, but nothing had been found.

Magneto's mutant signature had since disappeared off of Cerebra.

At the funeral, there were no bodies to bury, so bronze statues of the three X Men were added to the Memorial Garden among the many others.

Jean Paul stood staring at Bobby's long after the black-clad students had dispersed.

His own statue from his supposed death two years earlier was still standing and it was right next to Bobby's. Instead of destroying it, the X Men had opted to leave it up, so they wouldn't have to reconstruct one when Jean Paul really did die.

Jean Paul thought it was nice to know they had so little faith in his ability to stay alive.

"Isn't that you?" Pietro was suddenly standing next to him. The Brotherhood had stayed at the mansion all of these weeks, continuing their teaching positions. No one was sure when they would leave.

"_Oui_," Jean Paul said calmly.

"Did you die?"

"X Men rarely stay dead, I have heard." Jean Paul replied. He turned his head to look at Pietro. The other speedster looked extremely pale in his black suit.

"What happened to you?"

"Logan killed me." He said absently, looking back up to the statue of Bobby.

Pietro kept silent, but inside, he was bursting with, "YOU got killed by WOLVERINE?"

Jean Paul sighed, "I have to go," he turned around and walked away.

Pietro stayed and stared up at the bronze statue of Iceman.

The whole mansion had been like a waterworks show for a whole week, before going into dead-silent mode.

As far as he could recall, Jean Paul Beaubier had gone on with his life like nothing had happened. He was stoic, didn't smile (ever), and hardly bothered with any sarcastic remarks anymore, but he still went on, and he didn't cry (ever).

**A/N: Hey y'all, that's it. I wanted to write more, but I recently read a really gore-filled, violent, bloody, angsty, and depressing BTR fic (can you imagine?) so I have to write for one of my more depressing fics. Review.**


	17. Do Not Panic

**Disclaimer: The Man owns Marvel, not me. Damn The Man.**

**A/N: God, it's been a while. I am so freakin' sorry, everyone. I tend to forget about my own works when I start reading other peoples'. Anyhoodles, here's chapter 17 (Seventeen! Can you believe it?)**

**A/N: I was looking for the oldest slash story in the X-men archives (just for kicks) and I found one that had a mild mention of slash… published December 5, 1998. It tickles me to think that I was not even a year old. **

* * *

_… DO _NOT _PANIC_.

Gambit repeated this over and over to himself, and he found that it was becoming extremely difficult to follow. Storm had always been the one with claustrophobia, but Gambit doubted that she had ever been locked in a wooden _coffin_ before. It _was_ a coffin, Gambit was sure of it, and he was going _die_ here. He would either suffocate, or starve, and –Oh _God_ –this wasn't supposed to be how it ended for him.

_! GODDAMIT! DO NOT PANIC!_

Gambit screamed.

* * *

Though the mood throughout of Xavier's Institute was grim, a month and a half had passed since the Brotherhood had first arrived at the mansion. Scott Summers had decided that it would be important to figure out where they all were, what their future plans were.

"I dunno, yo," Toad said when Scott asked him, "I guess… um, well, teaching is kinda cool, actually."

Scott blinked slowly, "You want to stay?"

"Yeah, man, I mean, it ain't that bad…"

"Someone has to do the Accountancy classes." Lance had said simply.

Pietro had said, in not so little words, that he was going to stay, goddammit, because _someone_ had to teach the new generation of X-Men how to grow some backbone, and even Wanda refused to go back to her old life in favor of taking care of her 'kids' –the anger management class. To Scott's shock, Emma revealed to him that she had already asked Pyro to join the X-Men weeks earlier, and he had agreed.

"When were you planning on letting me in on this?" Scott asked with agitation.

Emma waved the question away dismissively, "Oh, honey, I was getting around to it."

...

Jean-Paul was _not_ hallucinating. That would be a very bad thing, after all. And Bobby Drake was dead. So why was he watching Bobby disappear into the crowd of New Yorkers in front of him?

His heart pounding, Jean-Paul pushed through the packed crowd of pedestrians. He caught sight of Bobby slipping into an alley, and he followed.

Why the hell had he followed?

"Hi," Bobby said, turning around and seeing Jean-Paul.

"Bobby?" Jean-Paul whispered, because, _damn_, it looked like Bobby.

"Yep," Bobby grinned, "What're you doing here, JP?"

"I should ask you the same thing!" Jean-Paul burst out.

"I'm on a mission, _remember_?" Bobby rolled his eyes.

"You're _dead_." Jean-Paul responded.

"Really?" Bobby wondered, "When did I die? Why didn't anyone inform me?" He looked at Jean-Paul and grinned again.

"What about Kitty? And Gambit?"

"Lemme guess. They're dead, too." Bobby smiled.

"_Oui_," Jean-Paul said.

"They're not. Listen, Jean-Paul, you should go back to the mansion –I mean, you're kind of famous. Sinister might realize we're on his trail." Bobby said sternly.

"You are _dead_, though." Jean-Paul said, eyes wide.

"Jean-Paul!" Bobby said, throwing his arms up in exasperation, "What will it take for me to convince you that I'm _real_?"

"How did no one find you? Cyclops sent _Logan_ to track you!" Jean-Paul began backing away.

"Listen to me, Jean-Paul. Stop panicking and think about this. Did anyone find any bodies?"

"No one found _anything_." Jean-Paul said.

"Oh my god," Bobby suddenly gasped. He whispered: "Was there a… _funeral_ for us?"

"A month ago." Jean-Paul replied.

"Holy shit!" Bobby exclaimed, "Okay! Don't worry! I'll get Kitty and Gambit and we'll call off the mission for a bit and go back and clear everything up!"

Jean-Paul grabbed Bobby's arm, "Where are they?"

"At the apartment," Bobby said. He looked at Jean-Paul, "Look, I'm going to be _right_ _back_ with them. And then we'll head back to the mansion. Okay?"

"You're dead," Jean-Paul repeated, though with less conviction.

"Am I?" Bobby challenged. A moment later, he was running around the corner of the alley.

Jean-Paul leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. What a sick, sick joke his mind was playing on him. He put and hand over his eyes and slid it down his face slowly.

Bobby. Holy shit. He was _alive_.

Jean-Paul's breath began to quicken. He was hyperventilating.

But minutes passed, and he began to calm down.

"Jean-Paul?"

He looked up to see Gambit, Kitty, and Bobby approaching him.

"Bobby told us everyone thinks we're, like, dead," Kitty said with a frown.

"He's in shock," Gambit noted.

"Come on, JP," Bobby said, holding out his hand.

"Don't come any closer!" Jean-Paul cried suddenly, "You're an imposter! You must be!"

"What, Mystique?" Bobby said, "That's insulting. Do I look blue?"

"Be rational, JP," Kitty said soothingly, "Even Mystique can't be three people at once."

"Did everyone really have a funeral f' us?" Gambit wanted to know.

"Yes." Jean-Paul said after a while. He straightened up and said: "We'd better head back to Westchester. Now."

* * *

**A/N: Hey darlings. Sorry for such a short chapter. I have really bad writer's block. So, any suggestions? What reactions do you expect from the X-men? Review and let me know what was going through your head when you read this. Also, I have a poll on my profile that I would really appreciate if you took the time to do. I just want to know what pairings you want to see in a high school AU I have planned as my next fanfic. Oh, and while I'm doing this shameless self-advertising, I would really appreciate if someone reviewed my Bobby/JP fics 'Hiccups', 'Lovestrong', and (its in-progress sequel) 'Back'. Also, can someone take the time to read and review my one shot 'Mutant Versus Vampire'? It's a Gambit slash fic (Not with Logan, though… ew, I hate that pairing…)**

**Thanks!**

**TSM**


	18. Everyone Was Updated Four Months Later

**A/N: Chapter 18 of the Lonely Hearts Club. It's been too long; so sorry.**

**To abc (anonymous reviewer): Thanks for being so honest. It's a tragic thing; I began writing this fic back when I had no experience, so I've just been going with the same tone. This is my 'crap' story. Every writer has to have one, right? Plus, I figured that now that they're older, Scott and Pietro could be slightly more mature and civil toward each other. I mean, maybe.**

* * *

The ride back to Westchester wasn't at all quiet. Bobby, Gambit, and Kitty had endless questions about what had gone on –the funeral, the school, the Brotherhood, the mission; what had happened?

Jean-Paul explained many times about how the Brotherhood were now a reserve X-men team, how they were teaching at the mansion, and how the mission had been put on an indefinite _hold_…

"Jubilee's gonna kill me when she find out we're alive, isn't she?" Bobby asked to no one in particular.

"I have a feeling _everyone's_ going to kill us. They're gonna think we're imposters or something." Kitty replied, "I feel, like, so horrible about this."

"Did you find out anything, though?" Jean-Paul questioned, "You had to have been in deep if you never contacted us."

"We were." Bobby said; "And we did get a few leads."

"Like what?"

"Magneto wasn't there, for one." Kitty told him, "But we know who Sinister's henchmen are. They almost captured us once."

Jean-Paul frowned, "When was that?"

"It was de week we started de mission." Gambit said.

"But they only had us for a day. We totally kicked there asses and escaped." Bobby grinned.

As they pulled into the driveway of the mansion, Kitty said nervously, "Okay, so what's, like, the plan? I mean, since everyone thinks we're dead, aren't they going to try and, like, kill us?"

"We'll go in through the back so we don't disrupt the students." Jean-Paul strategized, "Then we go straight to Summers."

Jean-Paul parked the car and they all climbed out. "Go up to the main Meeting Room." He instructed, "I'll get Scott. Just wait there." He zipped ahead of them, running toward Scott's office.

There was no one there.

"He's in the Meeting Room." Pietro was making his way down the hall behind Jean-Paul, evidently on his way to the meeting, but not in a rush.

"_The Meeting Room_?" Jean-Paul choked out.

"That's-what-I-said." Pietro rolled his eyes. "He's holding one of those let's-strategize-'bout-stupid-things meetings." To his surprise, Jean-Paul went flying down the hall after a cry of panic.

When they arrived at the Meeting Room, Jean-Paul opened the door to find everything in chaos. The X-Men, half of whom had been gathered for Scott's meeting, were shouting at Bobby, Kitty, and Gambit, who were shouting right back.

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF-?"

"-HOW WERE _WE_ SUPPOSED TO KNOW YOU THOUGHT"

"-IMPOSTERS! SKRULLS!"

"-CAN NOT _BELIEVE_-!"

"-_MON DIEU, _JUS' LET US"

"-KILL THEM!"

Always trying to be helpful, Pietro zipped across the room picked up the nearest chair and threw it onto the table. It made an echoing bang and skidded across the entire length of the table. "SHUT-THE-HELL-UP." Pietro shouted.

Everyone quieted down.

"Jean-Paul can explain." Kitty told Scott, pointing at the Quebecois.

The leader of the X-Men (along with everyone else) looked at him expectantly. Almost everyone was a certain degree of red-in-the-face. He glanced over to Kitty, Gambit, and Bobby, who were quite visibly upset.

"Actually… I really can't." Jean-Paul said. "I ran into Bobby in New York. He was just as surprised to see me as I was to see _him_."

The X-Men present did not seem satisfied by his answer. However—

"Well, the scents are right." Logan said, still eyeing them with suspicion.

Everyone burst into arguments once more.

"Been wrong before"

"-Yeah right"

"-Guess if _Logan_ says so"

"-Of course he"

"HEY!" Gambit yelled. The room went quiet, because as much as he was charm and fun, when Gambit could get a temper to rival Logan's in berserker-mode. He glared at everyone with narrowed, red-on-black eyes. "Y'tink we ain't outta the loop, too?" he gestured at himself, Bobby, and Kitty, "We been undercover f' nearly three months, learnin' close t' _nothin'_ an' suddenly we get outside contact, an' he tells us we're supposed t' be _dead._" He pointed at himself and snarled, "Now Gambit –f' one –knows he ain't dead."

There was a tense silence following his rant. Pyro was the first to move. He marched up to Gambit and only stopped when their faces were inches apart. There was a deep scowl on his features. He whispered so that only a few people heard what he told the Cajun: "You ain't my Gambit, mate."

Then, with a swish of his trench coat, Pyro turned on his heel and departed the Meeting Room.

* * *

Bobby wasn't sure how much time had come and gone in between his moments of consciousness. When he woke up for the umpteenth time, the constricting walls of his coffin were gone. He felt weak and starved, and maybe he was delirious, but Bobby was pretty sure he was in heaven.

It was very white.

Too white.

This couldn't be heaven. It was scary. It was white. There was a cold metal collar around his neck, and chains around his ankles.

God wouldn't lock him up.

Bobby closed his eyes and let the dark take him once more.

* * *

**A/N: Kinda back from the hiatus, but not really. If I update this story, the chapters will be really short, like this one. Sorry. You might want to go back and reread this to remember what the hell is going on.**


End file.
